Everything Burns
by MiraclesVeemon
Summary: After being scorned by her friends, Daisuke and Veemon quit the Digidestinds and join a new group unwillingly and Daisuke has to learn how to trust again to save the universe...again. Daiuya and Kouizumi.
1. End of an Old Life

"End of an Old Life"

**I thought I'd make a longer version of this from my oneshot story some of you may have read. Please enjoy and review!**

Walking around in the forest Dai had come to realize that she was lost.

Another genius move on her part of getting separated from the group and being stuck in the Digital World without any help if she got attacked by a rogue digimon.

That being sarcasm of course.

Of all people it just had to be her that got lost from the others who would be very annoyed when they found her because they had to waste their time on her when they could be doing something more productive.

"Man, which way do I go?" she asked herself as she looked around.

"Do you mean in this forest or in life?" someone asked.

Gasping, she spun around to see that a large tree she had walked by had come to life as he stared at her with yellow eyes and had a shrub as a moustache.

"What are you and what do you mean 'in life'?" Dai asked him.

He chuckled deep in his throat as he walked over to her with his tree roots as legs and gave a small smile that was meant to be comforting, but it gave her chills.

"What I mean dear girl is that in life you have many paths to take that determine who you will be in the future. I wonder what path you will take." He said.

His voice was deep, but soothing like a grandfather's voice would be like.

"Uh huh. So who are you and why does my future matter to you?" Dai asked as she gave him a wary glance.

"Oh, forgive me. I am Cherrymon." He said.

"You're a digimon? Er, duh. Makes sense that a talking tree in the Digital World would be a digimon. Man, I am dumb." She sighed sadly.

Cherrymon had a certain look in his eyes as he looked the girl over sensing a small hint of depression bubbling under the surface.

It was obvious by the sadness that shone in her eyes that she had dealt with self-doubt and wondered about whether she had a meaning in this world, a purpose in life that made her special.

"Who told you that you are dumb?" Cherrymon asked.

"A lot of people." She said.

"Like whom may I ask?" he inquired.

"Um, my parents, my sister, Yolei, Cody's pretty much said something that means he thinks I'm stupid. It's also obvious that TK and Kari only tolerate me half the time." Dai said.

Saying the things she had already figured out for herself out loud made it really hit her where it hurt.

Did any of her friends truly care for her at all?

"My, that sounds unsettling. Are these people truly your friends if they do this?" Cherrymon asked.

(Nearby…)

"I can't believe she got lost! Actually, I can. I don't know what I was saying." Yolei ranted.

She, TK, Tai, Matt, Kari, Ken, Cody, Veemon and the other digimon were looking for Dai since she had walked off from the group when they were helping fix the Digital World up after their battle with MaloMyotismon.

"Yolei, please calm down. This is a new area we haven't been too. The trees are very dense and make it hard to walk around here. It's a wonder not all of us have gotten separated or lost." Ken said.

"And it just had to be Dai." Gatomon sighed.

"She really should have stayed closer." Hawkmon said.

"I'm sure we'll find her soon enough." Armadillomon assured.

"Hope she's OK." Veemon whimpered.

"Aw, she'll be fine. She's a tough kid." Tai said.

Cody, who was at the front with his D-3 held out in front of him, gasped as he got a signal to track down their missing member.

"Found her. She's right through this patch of trees." He said pointing up in front of them.

"Finally." Matt sighed.

They all ran over to the trees and looked through the small openings to see that Dai was about 10 feet away from them in a clearing speaking to a large tree digimon.

"Of course they're my friends! Why would you ask something as dumb as that?" they heard Dai ask.

"Who is that digimon?" Cody asked.

"It's Cherrymon." Gabumon said as Matt gasped.

He had a run in with a Cherrymon before and it ended in him turning against his friends and brother, attacking Tai while he forced MetalGarurumon to fight WarGreymon.

Could this be the very same one from all those years ago trying to make Dai turn against them?

"You just said that they belittle you. If they were your friends, then wouldn't they treat you as their equal or at least notice the pain they cause you?" Cherrymon asked.

Dai was at a lost from that as she bit her lip and held a fist to her chest as she thought this over.

"I-I…but they are my friends. Aren't they?" she asked as tears sprung in her eyes.

"What? Why would she even ask that?" Yolei asked insulted.

"Listen and you might learn something." Tai quietly hissed.

The group all kept as quiet as they could so that they could focus on what Cherrymon and Dai were saying to see when they should jump in to help her out.

"In your heart you know the truth. They aren't your friends. If they are, then they aren't very good. How many times have they made you cry?" Cherrymon cooed.

That made the tears fall freely from Dai's eyes much to the Digidestinds' and digimons' surprise.

"That many times? How cruel. Tell me what they say or do to hurt you so." Cherrymon said.

"Yolei always calls me dumb or finds a way to insult me while TK, Cody and Kari undermine everything I say while they laugh at my faults. I thought at least Ken was still there to be my friend, but even he's turning away and laughs with them. I don't think they would even be my friends if I never became a Digidestind." Dai sniffled.

Kari gasped softly as her hand covered her mouth in shock when she saw how much pain they had caused her with their joking while Ken had tears twinkling in his eyes from hearing that he had hurt the person who was supposed to be his best friend.

Out of everyone, she was the person who had faith in him to become good and tried to convince the others, but they just shot the very thought down.

"Do you feel that you should continue down the path you're on? Why stay when all you'll get is more pain from those who use you as a scapegoat?" Cherrymon cooed.

Dai was shaking as if she was freezing as she cried harder at the fact that they didn't care for her at all.

"Why did you become a Digidestind? Why did you choose to risk your life for a world filled with people who fight to break your heart and soul?" Cherrymon asked.

"I don't even remember anymore. It's like over time I start to forget. I don't know why I bothered with going through all of this to just get treated the way I do. I mean, no one yells at Yolei, TK, Cody, Kari or Ken when they make a mistake. I don't think anyone cares if they do make a mistake, but when I do it, they all pounce like a pack of starved wolves. It's worst when they do it behind my back and I know they do, I've seen it." Dai sobbed as she dropped to her knees.

"It's so hard to fake a smile and act like nothing's wrong after just hearing them insult you and laugh like you're some big joke." she cried.

TK felt his heart sink down into his stomach as he felt sick from hearing those words and seeing the tears falling down her face that was flushed from crying.

Tai had his fists clenched tightly as he came to realize that this was his fault for not seeing that there were problems circling around the girl he had claimed as the new leader.

Guilt was filling Yolei as she thought back to the times she had gotten mad at Dai for the smallest things and would yell at the girl.

True, Dai had insulted her too, but it was small and playful as if she didn't mean to cause any harm, but Yolei still took offence and viewed the younger girl as the enemy.

Veemon was whimpered as tears fell down his face as he stared at his partner as he realized that all of the emotions she kept bottled up were finally coming out.

He had heard her crying at night when she thought he was asleep, but he did hear her and wondered why she was so sad and asked her, but she would dry her tears and force a smile as she assured him nothing was wrong at all.

"Oh, don't cry. Why waste your tears over such horrific people?" Cherrymon asked as he cupped his hand under the girl's chin making her look up at him.

"What am I supposed to do then? If I confront them, they'll just say I'm being too sensitive or just making it seem like something it's for attention while the older kids just stand by watching and do nothing like they always do when the others insult me. It's like they don't notice." Dai said as she worked on drying her tears with the sleeve of her blue sweater.

Cherrymon smirked as he realized he had the broken girl just where he wanted her and would make her turn against her friends like he had done to that blonde boy four years ago.

Humans were fragile creatures and women were exceptionally more so than the males.

"Take your revenge." He said.

Matt tensed up at this as he knew that this was the part that would be more difficult.

Dai looked up at Cherrymon with stunned eyes.

"Revenge?" she asked.

"Yes, revenge for everything they had done to you. They hurt you and you should hurt them back. It's justice after all." He said.

"What do we do now?" Wormmon whispered.

"I don't know. I never thought we'd have to face Dai as our enemy before." Tai said.

"How do you know she'll go against us?" Agumon asked.

"It's what I would do. I did do that, remember? But what we did to her was worse than what was wrong with me." Matt said.

He was the child of Friendship, out of everyone, he should have been there to help out the girl who had inherited his Crest, but he hadn't even bothered to do so.

This was all his fault, he should have taught her about his mistakes so that she could learn from them and wouldn't have to face this current problem.

"You want me to hurt them?" Dai asked.

"Yes, hurt them. Kill them even. It will ease your pain and you will be reborn even stronger without those people who lived to drag you down." Cherrymon said.

Dai then slapped his hand away making him gasp and she stood up quickly with a glare.

"You really think I'd kill them?" she demanded in anger.

"Of course. They broke you, trashed your soul. They think of you as trash." Cherrymon tried to reason.

"That doesn't mean I can kill them! What kinda person would be stupid enough to try to kill their own friends just to make the pain go away?" Dai asked.

She had no idea how that question made a certain blonde 15 year old moan in displeasure as he thought back to how he had easily turned against his friends while she was yelling at Cherrymon.

"You need to do this. You know it deep inside of you." Cherrymon stated.

"No, what I know is that you got one twisted mind. They may insult me, bring me down and hurt me, but they're still my friends and I would die before I hurt them!" Dai said fiercely.

The other Digidestinds all gasped in shock and awe at what she had just said, the girls now crying along with Ken.

"Fine then. You know, I thought those who inherit Friendship were easy to manipulate just like that boy with the Gabumon was, but you proved me wrong. You may be stronger than he was or you're just a masochist." Cherrymon chuckled darkly.

As he went to attack her, Veemon quickly dove into action and tackled Dai to the ground and out of the way of the attack.

"What?" Cherrymon asked.

"Veemon, you made it!" Dai exclaimed.

"Yep. Now let's get this guy." Veemon grinned as Dai nodded with a smirk.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon armour digivolve to…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

Mounting her dragon, Dai hung onto the spikes as Raidramon shot off at Cherrymon and used his Electric Bite on the plant digimon's arm making him scream in pain, then Raidramon jumped away.

"What should we do about him, Dai?" Raidramon asked.

"I don't know." Dai said.

"Destroy him!" Matt called.

Gasping, the second duo of Friendship looked over to see Garurumon had jumped out of the thick trees with Matt on his back and ran up to their side.

"Cherrymon will only go after another kid who is broken and turn them. We need to take him out once and for all." Matt said determined.

Something flashed in his azure eyes that made Dai feel curious, but she brushed it off as she nodded.

"Then let's get him." She said.

"Come and try it, Keepers of Friendship. But it still won't change what you both know." Cherrymon said.

Growling at each other in agreement, Raidramon and Garurumon faced Cherrymon as he threw small cherry bombs at them, but the dragon and wolf quickly jumped out of the way and blasted at him with their Howling Blaster and Thunder Blast.

Cherrymon screamed in agony as he then shattered into data particles that floated off into the sky.

As they watched, the other Digidestinds and digimons walked out of the thick trees and went over to their friends as they both had stoic expressions as they watched the data float away into the sky.

"Dai, are you OK?" Kari asked softly.

The mahogany haired girl's head was bent down to hide her face so no one could see what she was feeling or thinking.

"No, I'm not. Cherrymon was right." Dai said.

"No he wasn't." TK said.

"You should never take revenge. It makes things worst." Patamon said.

"No, not about that. About the fact that you guys don't really care about me." she said.

"That isn't true." Ken said as he ran up to her side.

She then looked at them all with molten chocolate eyes that made them all freeze in place when they saw the conflicted emotions surging in them.

"Oh really? Then what's my favorite color?" she asked.

This stumped them at why she was even asking, but they decided to play this game.

"Blue." Yolei said.

"Wrong. It's gold." Dai said.

"Yeah, but I bet you don't know our favorite colors." Yolei challenged.

"Lavender." Dai said pointing at Yolei who was shocked since she had gotten it right.

"Green." Dai said pointing to Tai.

"Yellow." She said pointing at Cody.

"Amethyst." This was directed at Kari.

"Teal." That would be TK.

"Sapphire." Ken's favorite.

"And silver." Dai said as she looked over at Matt last.

"Tell me I'm wrong." She challenged them all.

No one said a thing since she had correctly guessed their favorite colors.

"This is my point. You don't care enough about me to know what my favorite color is. If you don't know that, then you don't know what my favorite song, movie, book, author, band or TV show is either. Do you even know if I have allergies or a phobia? No, you don't. We're supposed to be friends, but how can you be my friends if you don't know any of the facts about my life?" she asked.

Everyone kept silent as they looked down sadly since they thought hard to see that they truly didn't know the details of her life or about anything that made her who she is.

Shaking her head in disgust at them all, she pulled off the goggles that Tai had given to her, the guy who she viewed as such an amazing person once that she would work really hard to make him compliment her or respect her as much as she did him.

"Here, I never wanted them in the first place. I only took them to make you happy, but I could care less about that now." Dai said as she threw the goggles down to the ground right at Tai's feet.

Feeling like he lost a part of himself, Tai bent down and picked up the goggles and looked them over as he felt he had failed greatly.

He took a child's trust and shattered it.

"I hope you all have a nice life." She said as it looked like she was going to cry again, but was holding the tears back.

Raidramon took the hint and then took off into the forest, heading towards the digi port to take them back home.

When she was gone, Kari broke down crying as Gatomon rushed to her side to comfort her.

"We…we really hurt her. Didn't we?" Yolei asked sadly.

"I don't think she'll ever trust us again." Cody said.

Ken was sobbing at the fact that he had just lost his best friend for being so stupid, falling to his hands and knees as he let out a wail of misery.

"She'll come around and forgive us…right?" Armadillomon asked.

"It's hard to tell. From what we saw, I wouldn't be surprised if she never did forgive us and ignored us all for the rest of her life." Hawkmon said regrettably.

The digimons were at fault here as well since they could have said something to stop their partners from being so disrespectful to Dai, but instead they just laughed along.

"Why are you all just standing around?" Matt demanded making them all look at him.

"Our friend is hurt. We need to try to help her instead of just feeling bad for what we've done in the past." He said.

"But she doesn't seem to want anything to do with us." Wormmon said timidly.

"That doesn't matter. We can still try." Garurumon said.

With that, the original Keepers of Friendship took off in the direction that their successors had gone off in, determined to catch up to them and help the hurt girl out.

Raidramon was running quickly across the planes of the Digital World when he heard the pounding of footsteps.

"We're being followed." He said.

Looking back, Dai frowned when she saw it was Matt and Garurumon who were chasing after them.

"What are they doing chasing us? Pick up the pace. We need to lose them." She said.

"Got it." Raidramon said.

The dirt kicked up as he increased his speed making Matt frown as he realized that they knew he and Garurumon were on their tail.

"Hurry, Garurumon. We're losing them." Matt urged.

"Right." The wolf snarled as he went faster.

Soon enough, the two digimon were running alongside each other, Matt looking over to Dai who was focusing on what was ahead of her so she could ignore him.

"Dai, we need to talk. Pull over." He called to her.

"What?! Sorry, can't hear you!" she yelled back without looking at him.

Frowning in displeasure at this, Matt decided that he would have to take drastic measures to get her attention.

He leaned down and whispered his plan into Garurumon's ear, the wolf looking worried about this, but nodded in confirmation as he kept the pace with the dragon.

"What are they planning?" Dai muttered.

Garurumon swerved right in front of Raidramon, making him take a turn to where a field of long grass was located and they both ran in that direction.

"What are you doing?" Raidramon asked.

"You'll see." Garurumon said.

As they raced each other, Matt carefully stood up on his wolf's back and then lunged at Dai, arms locking around her waist as he twisted his body and forced them both off of the dragon as they both went falling into the soft long grass that broke their fall.

The two digimon stopped running and turned to their partners in worry in case they were hurt.

Matt was lying on his back with his arms wrapped around Dai, keeping her in place as he had her chest against his, blushing a bit at the feel of her breasts, but shrugged it off when he felt her trying to move.

"Let me go!" she yelled.

"So you can run off again? Not gonna happen, Dai. We're talking and we're going to stay here as long as we need to, even if it takes all night." Matt said sternly.

"What about your dad? Won't he get suspicious if you don't go home?" she asked.

"What about your family?" he asked.

"They won't care, they never do. Now let me go!" she yelled as she thrashed around in his arms but he tightened his hold on her bringing her closer to himself.

"After you told me that stuff? No way, now start talking. Why do you think your parents won't care?" he asked.

"Because they told me they didn't care! They call me stupid just as much as the others do and Jun just teases me all the time. I just want to go somewhere where I can be alone and not have to worry about any of this stuff for a long while." She cried.

"You'd have to deal with it some time. And with the Digidestinds. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have been looking out for you. I out of all people knew how fragile the power of Friendship is. Cherrymon tried to get to me too." He said.

Dai stopped moving when those words came out of his mouth and she looked into his azure eyes to see age old pain hidden there.

"What?" she asked.

Seeing she relaxed, Matt loosened his hold, but kept it firm so she couldn't escape easily as he launched into his story.

"TK was kidnaped by Puppetmon and he saved himself. It was then that I realized that he didn't need me anymore and it really hit home. I thought watching over TK was my one purpose in life, but now that he could save himself, it left me with nothing to live for." He explained.

Raidramon and Garurumon laid down side by side as they listened to the tale that the blonde was telling.

"After the divorce, I was used to being alone, so when I got thrown into watching TK at camp and then the Digital World, it freaked me out. I didn't know how to be a big brother. Tai did a better job of it and it annoyed me. After I got used to the idea of looking out for TK, he just grew up so fast that I lost my chance to really be there for him. Cherrymon found me when I started to doubt my worth to the group. He convinced me to get rid of Tai and I attacked him and then ordered MetalGarurumon to take out WarGreymon. I really messed up there. When I saw you with Cherrymon, I froze in fear because I thought he would fill your heads with lies, but he didn't. Unlike me, you called him on what he was and fought him. I wish I had your strength back then." Matt said.

Feeling her arms move, he looked down to see that Dai had wrapped her arms around his waist as best she could while she rested her head on his chest.

"What're you doing?" he asked with a blush.

"You looked like you needed a hug." Was her response.

Smiling at that, he returned the hug and buried his face in her hair that was down from its ponytail and had a few blades of grass in it much like he was sure was the state his hair was in.

Garurumon and Raidramon both smiled at this as they reverted back to their Rookie forms while they watched their partners hug.

They looked so sweet, like a brother and sister comforting each other.

"Do you think you can forgive the others for what they did?" Matt asked.

"Maybe later. I have a right to still be mad at them since I've been keeping my feelings in for almost a year." Dai said.

Chuckling at that, Matt picked the girl up in his arms and then set her on her feet.

"Can we go eat now?" Veemon asked.

"I am a bit hungry myself." Gabumon admitted.

The two Keepers of Friendship laughed at that as the foursome headed off for the digi port to go back home to get some food to eat, Matt using Dai's D-Terminal to send a quick message to the others that he found Dai and they were going home.

When Dai got home, she saw that her dad and mom were both carrying some boxes around the apartment while Jun sat down in the kitchen pouting.

"What's going on?" Dai asked.

Her mother looked over to her.

"Your father just got a job transfer. We're moving on Saturday, so start packing your stuff or we'll leave it here." The woman said.

Feeling shocked at this, Dai just nodded and walked off into her room and set Demiveemon down as she started to pack up her stuff.

"Dai, aren't you going to talk to your parents about this?" the dragon asked.

"No. They won't care what I have to say, so I'll just be wasting my breath. Besides, I need to move on." Dai said.

Demiveemon frowned sadly at this as he watched his partner pack up her stuff to get ready to move away from the place she grew up in.

(The next day…)

"You're moving? Seriously?" Matt asked.

The two duos of Friendship were at the Ishida's apartment speaking since Dai wanted to be away from where the others could find her.

"Yeah. When Dad makes up his mind, there's no talking him out of it. If Jun's whining didn't work, then you know nothing I say will work." She said.

"You mean anything." Matt corrected her which made her glare and he smiled innocently.

"Well, just call me and e-mail me as much as you can when you get there. Where are you moving to anyway?" Matt asked.

"Someplace called Shibuya I think." She answered.

Tsunomon and Demiveemon were watching a TV show while eating popcorn, laughing at the show and trying to forget about the fact that they wouldn't see each other for a while.

Matt smiled as he saw the hidden stress on the girl's face and brushed her bangs out of her face making her chocolate eyes look up into his azure ones.

"Do me a favor and try to make at least one new friend, OK?" he asked.

She nodded at this, but wasn't sure if she could trust so easily anymore after what she went through.

(A week later…)

The Motomiya family had made it to their new house in the town of Shibuya and went inside the light blue house that had four bedrooms along with an attic and a basement to store their things, a living room, a kitchen and dining room in one, two bathrooms and it had a front door and back door in the kitchen.

Dai had been just coming down from her room and paused when she saw the family of four in the Motomiyas' new house.

There was a man with tanned skin and long black hair tied back, a woman with auburn hair, a small boy with brown hair, brown eyes and pale skin like his mother while the boy who was Dai's age had tanned skin like his dad and also had dark brown hair that was styled like his mother's.

Something that put Dai off were the square goggles he had around his neck because they reminded her too much of Tai and she was trying to get over her old friends who had hurt her.

"We hoped that we could be the first to welcome you to the neighborhood." The man said.

"Thank you." Mr. Motomiya said.

Jun looked off to the side and spotted Dai hiding around the corner with Demiveemon clutched to her chest and a distressed expression on her face.

Mrs. Motomiya saw what Jun was looking at.

"Well, I'm Mai, this is my daughter Jun, husband Jiro and my youngest daughter is called Daisuke." She said.

Sighing, Dai walked out from where she was hiding, the family noticing her, the oldest son staring at her with a small pink tint to his cheeks.

"Well, it was wonderful to meet you. Perhaps you can come over for dinner so we can get more acquainted." The woman said.

She had seen how her son reacted to seeing the mahogany haired girl and was cooking up more than just dinner for tonight.

"That's sounds wonderful." Mai said.

"We'll be there. What time should we arrive?" Jiro asked.

"I think 7:00 should work out for us all." The man smiled.

"All right then, we'll see you at 7:00." Jiro said.

"Goodbye then!" the woman said with a wave.

The family then left, Jiro closing the door behind them and turned a stern gaze onto his youngest.

"You behave tonight, understood?" he demanded.

Teeth grinding behind closed lips, Dai just nodded her head and then left to go into her room, locking the door behind her.

She sighed sadly as she set Demiveemon down on her bed, the dragon giving her a worried look.

"Dai, are you OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, buddy. I just don't think I'm up for making new friends so soon." she said with a small smile for him.

She then went over to one of her boxes that was near the window and opened it up, taking out some of her old soccer gear.

"Hey!" someone called.

Jumping in shock, she turned to look out her window and spotted that boy looking over at her from the window in his own room.

They were about ten feet away from each other, the goggle boy smiling at her.

"You're Daisuke, right? My name's Takuya Kanbara." He said.

Dai kept quiet as she just nodded.

"Not much of a talker are ya?" he asked.

"People like it better when I don't talk." Dai said as she closed her window and then pulled the curtains down.

Demiveemon looked at her curiously as she went back to unpacking and then the time for meeting the Kanbaras came, so Dai left her dragon alone with some food and then left with her family.

They went inside the house and were greeted by the father who smiled at them.

"Welcome, please come in. The food is ready to be served now." He said as he led the group in.

The mother was placing the pot of curry on the table, Takuya looking over and smiled as he saw Dai, not looking at all offended by how she had just blew him off.

"Welcome, please, sit." The mother insisted.

As soon as Dai sat down, Takuya hopped down to her right while his brother sat on her left.

"This smells wonderful, um…" Mai trailed off.

"Ah, right, we never introduced ourselves did we? I'm Yuriko; this is my husband Hiroaki and my sons Shinya and Takuya." The woman said pointing out her family members.

"Hey, Daisuke, do you play any sports?" Shinya asked making the girl look at him.

"Um, yeah. I play soccer." She said.

"No way, that's awesome!" Takuya said getting in her face which made her blush as he smiled at her.

"Jun, do you play any sports or have any activities?" Hiroaki asked.

"No, I don't like sports." Jun said as she started eating.

The Kanbaras frowned at that since they were active people who enjoyed sports and other types of physical movement like running and dance.

"Jun is actually an honor student and keeps up with her studies very well." Jiro said proudly which made Dai look down as she just started eating.

The adults then went on speaking, Shinya asking Dai questions too which she answered the best she could and Takuya was getting bored to death at the fact that Jun was talking to him about fashion and cute boys.

He wanted to talk to Dai; she seemed more interesting and seemed to be the fun one.

After they finished eating, Shinya pulled Dai off to play a game of soccer with him in the backward and she went along with it since she couldn't refuse the sweet face he gave her and Takuya was once again stuck with Jun in the living room while the parents talking in the kitchen.

(A few days later…)

It was the start of the new school, Dai and Jun walking out of the house together with their new school bags and supplies while Demiveemon was hidden inside Dai's bag.

"Dai!" Shinya called as he and Takuya stepped out of their house, the little boy running over to the girl waving.

He had really enjoyed his time with the girl who had been nice to him despite the fact that he was younger than her.

"Hey, wait up!" Takuya called as he ran after his brother who was hugging the arm of the surprised Dai while Jun rolled her eyes at this.

"Hey you two. Ready for your first day?" Takuya asked.

"Yeah, sure. I can't wait to see if there are any cute guys here!" Jun gushed making the other three sigh.

They then started walking, Shinya talking nonstop to Dai who listened to him and nodded with a small grin to show she was listening.

When they got to the school, they separated to head off to their own classes, Dai having all of the same classes as Takuya who happily showed her around the classes while asking her plenty of questions.

She had her guard up around him and didn't really speak to him which frustrated him, but he didn't give up as he continued talking to her since there was something about her that interested him.

After a while, she finally had enough and just started talking to him and told him small things about her life like how she was the captain of the male soccer team and he smiled at this.

Whenever the subject of friends came up, she would freeze as a look of pain flashed in her eyes which surprised him, but he would then change the subject much to her relief.

(A month later…)

Takuya and Dai had grown closer as friends, the girl coming to trust him, but only him as she was still wary of other people and would often grow shy around others except for Shinya.

At the moment, Shinya was playing with the new race car that Dai had gotten him for his birthday that day while Takuya sat at the table looking bored out of his mind as he stared at the cake.

No one could eat until their father got home from work, but Shinya didn't mind since Dai was playing with him and Demiveemon was hiding inside of the hood of her black sweater that had orange and red flames at the bottom.

"Hey, Dai, do you think you can help me with a prank?" Shinya asked quietly so his mom and brother didn't hear.

"A prank? Like what?" Dai whispered.

"Like changing Takuya's hair color. Not permanent, but something really wild that would make him freak out." He giggled.

"Yeah, sure. As long as it's not pink or lavender." She said.

Pink hair would remind her too much of Kari and Mimi while lavender would make her think of Yolei, which would make her feel upset over her old friends yet again.

"OK, how about a bright neon green color or would that be cool? Maybe we can just put a lot of different colors in his hair!" Shinya exclaimed quietly.

She just gave a smile at the boy when Takuya ran over and grabbed her hand, hauling her up to her feet and ran for the door.

"We're leaving!" he called to his mom.

"Don't play in the street!" the woman called after them.

When they were running down the street, Takuya held his cell phone up to check the time.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"My destiny. I need to get to the train station for my destiny." He said.

This really confused her by the answer, but then a little boy and his dad accidentally kicked a soccer ball into the street making Takuya let go of Dai's hand as he ran after the ball.

"I'll get it!" he called to the father and son.

He got to the ball and turned to kick it back, but didn't see the truck getting closer to him.

"Takuya!" Dai yelled.

Her voice made him look up to see the truck and his eyes widened in fear.

"This is my destiny?" he asked.

Demiveemon jumped out of Dai's sweater and quickly digivolved into his Champion form and grabbed at the boy, flying him away from the truck and over to Dai and then returned to his Rookie form before anyone saw him.

"What the heck?" Takuya asked.

All he saw was a flash of light and then something blue before he was standing in front of Dai safely.

Speaking of the girl, she had her hand over her heart as it pounded hard against her breast.

She had been terrified that she would lose her friend.

"Don't ever do that again." She scolded.

"Sorry, I guess I should've watched where I was going." He said sheepishly, then checked his phone.

"Ah, we're late!" he yelled and grabbed her hand, almost running into Veemon if he hadn't moved out of the way in time and latched onto Dai's hand as they ran off.

Takuya pulled her along to the train station where they went to where the ticket machine was and he dug in his pockets while Dai picked up Veemon and held him, hoping he wouldn't notice the dragon.

"Aw, man. I knew I should've asked for more allowance." Takuya groaned as he rammed his head onto the machine.

It beeped and then stuck out two tickets that were red, but glowed which what looked like blue data before it returned to normal.

"Huh, that works." He said and then looked over to Dai.

"Have you always had that thing?" he asked staring at Veemon.

"Yes, you were just in too much of a hurry to notice." She said.

Shrugging at this, Takuya grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him again and got to the train, yelling for it to wait and then the two ran inside.

Takuya slumped to the floor panting while Dai just watched him.

"I can't believe we made it. Huh? How come you're not tired?" he asked the girl.

"I'm used to running around all the time." She said making him grunt.

Across from them, they noticed a boy their age with long raven hair tied back while his bangs were being held up by a blue bandana with brown tiger stripes and he had sapphire eyes that were on his cell phone.

"I wonder if he got the same message." Takuya said to Dai who bit her bottom lip.

"I have a bad feeling." Veemon whispered into his partner's ear.

She nodded at this, especially when everyone's cell phone went off, but the only two people on board who got the message were Takuya and bandana boy.

Looking around, Dai spotted a boy who was wearing a green cap staring at bandana boy and she almost swore that it was Ken, but as she looked closer, she saw that it was someone else who resembled bandana boy far too much.

"AHHH COME ON!" Takuya stood up, screaming.

Dai jumped in shock at this as she, bandana boy and the other passengers around looked at the crazed goggle head who had his heads on his head looking distressed over the message he had gotten.

"GIVE ME A BREAK! I'M DOIN' THE BEST I CAN!" Takuya complained loudly.

The duo of Miracles sighed at this.

After a while, they finally made it to their stop and Takuya had his arm linked with Dai's as Veemon was being given a ride on her back as he clung to her, the three looking around.

"Where do we go now?" Dai asked.

"I don't know." Takuya said.

Just then, bandana boy walked by them, stepping out in front of them and some wave of energy passed through the trio which stunned them, but ignored it as the raven kept going.

"Maybe…he knows." Takuya said determined.

He took off, dragging Dai with him, but she then let go and ran off, surprising him at the speed she was at as she jumped over the check through and then made it to the elevator in only a minute.

"How does she do that?" Takuya muttered as he ran faster.

He jumped into the elevator before it closed shut, his head hitting wall making bandana boy, Dai and Veemon stare at him.

"You know I could've held the doors right?" she asked softly.

"Now ya tell me." Takuya groaned as he got up in a sitting position and rubbed at his sore head.

Seeing the other boy, Takuya gave him a curious look as Dai turned to him.

"Hey, did you get the message, too?" Takuya asked the boy.

The boy didn't answer; he just turned away from him.

"You could answer me, at least." the goggle head said.

Just then, the elevator started making weird noises and the three saw that they were skipping some floors, and were way pass floor B1, so they weren't even on any floors anymore.

A sudden flicker of negative energy then went through Dai and the raven which made them both gasp as they had sensed something was off, but not sure what it was.

Veemon whimpered as his ears flattened meaning he had sensed it as well.

"My destiny's really starting to bite." Takuya said.

The elevator crash landed, making Takuya fall back while the other two held onto the walls to keep themselves steady.

"Man, I really gotta stop landing on my head!" Takuya said.

The three looked out of the elevator to see the doors were opened and saw an underground train station with different colored trains and kids of all ages boarding them.

"So weird." Takuya said.

"It's up to you now. Which one will you choose?" Takuya's and the boy's phones asked.

"Hey, which one are you choosing?" Takuya asked as the boy ran out.

"Gee, my phone talks more than that guy." He muttered.

"So, which one do we choose?" he asked as he stood up and looked around.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling something big is gonna happen." Dai said with narrowed eyes.

Takuya looked at her in confusion, but she ignored it as she and Veemon spotted a wine colored train that was closest to them and had some kids getting on to check it out while one little boy was shoved on by some other kids.

Sadly they didn't have time to look around when the trains' doors slammed shut and started to leave, so the two started running to the wine train, Dai jumping on fast and then held her hand out for Takuya to take and he grabbed hold of it.

Veemon hopped down and grabbed Dai's waist, pulling her and Takuya onto the car and the boy panted to try and catch his breath.

"Thanks." He panted.

Lifting his eyes, he spotted bandana boy on the train across from him and the duo of Miracles turned to spot him.

They kept eye contact until they went into two separate tunnels and then looked to the door in front of them.

"So, now what do we do?" Takuya asked.

"Just walk in and see what our destiny is now." Dai said as she picked up Veemon and walked inside.

Takuya nodded and followed her, but the mahogany haired girl couldn't help but wonder what she had gotten herself into now.

To be continued…


	2. Agunimon and Lobomon

"Agunimon: Warrior of Flame and Lobomon: the Warrior of Light"

**Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and review!**

Walking down the cars that were empty, Takuya felt a bit nervous while Dai was on edge, ready in case they were attacked.

"Man, this place sure is empty. What if it's a ghost train?" Takuya asked.

They continued on until they made it to a car that had three other kids inside, one being a tall girl their age with long blonde hair and emerald eyes while she wore a lavender outfit, the sight of the girl making Dai tense up since she reminded her of Yolei.

Next was a heavyset brunette who had brown eyes that matched his spikey hair and wore a blue and yellow jumpsuit as he munched on a chocolate bar.

Veemon was drooling at the scent, but bit his tongue to remind him to behave or else he would be in trouble.

Lastly, there was a little boy farther off from them sitting with his head bent, the large orange hat hiding his face.

"Um, you here cause of the...phone thing?" Takuya asked.

As the heavyset male and blonde girl looked at them, Dai hid behind Takuya and bent her head as she clung to his arm to hide from them.

Blondie nodded while chocolate boy huffed as he looked away.

"With them here, there's five of us. I wonder if that means something special?" the blonde girl asked.

"Something special? What? Why'd you guys get on this train?" Takuya asked.

"I mean was it the message?" he asked as he walked further into the car.

"Hey, kid, this was the closest train to the elevator, OK?" the heavy set boy said.

"Now look. Just leave me alone." He said looking to the side.

"Gee, sorry." Takuya muttered feeling discouraged.

"I'm just nervous." the boy said.

"But there must be a reason you picked this particular train." Takuya said, then looked over to the blonde as she giggled.

"I'm like him, it was the closest to the elevator." the blond said.

The heavy set boy grinned widely as his eyebrows wiggled.

"Hey, watch this." He whispered to Takuya.

"So, honey, you want some chocolate? Move!" he whispered the last word to Takuya as he slightly shoved him away.

"No." the girl said.

"By the way, my name's JP. What's yours?" the heavy set boy said, trying to flirt.

"I'm Zoe; it's nice to meet you." she smiled.

"And I'm Takuya. This here is Dai." He smiled while she just continued to hide from them and hugged Veemon closer to her chest.

"Why'd she bring a stuffed animal? Is she a baby?" JP asked.

Takuya gave him a glare and was about to yell at him, but was stopped by the little boy sniffling sadly.

"I'm…I'm, Tommy, but...I didn't want to get on this train..." he said.

"What are you sayin'?" Takuya asked.

"Some big kids...bullies...they pushed me on and shut the door! Why are people always picking on me?" Tommy cried as he looked up revealing brown hair and ocean green eyes.

"This kid could be a faucet." JP muttered.

"JP. Don't worry, Tommy. You're safe with us." Zoe assured.

Suddenly the lights went out which surprised everyone as the train then hit a rough patch making them all fall to the ground, Dai and Veemon looking over at the overs to see transparent forms of digimon go over the four humans.

This surprised them as they tried to figure out why that would happen, but were confused by this.

One thing they did know, these kids were the new Digidestinds and the Digital World was in danger yet again.

Everyone's cell phones then started to shriek loudly as their phones glowed and transformed into new digivices.

"What's going on?" Takuya asked.

"Welcome to the Digital World Takuya Kanbara/Zoe Orimoto/JP Shibiyama/Tommy Himi. This is your D-Tector." The woman's voice said.

"Did you guys get that message?" Takuya asked.

There was no answer as the others were staring at their new devices.

"OK, I guess that's a yes." Takuya said as the train then gave a loud and obnoxious whistle that sounded more like a person was making it as they all held their ears.

"You can hear that on Mars." Takuya said.

The light then came back on as they had come out of the tunnel and spotted some creatures floating outside which made Dai and Veemon rush over to the windows and knew they were right.

"Are those ghosts?" Zoe asked.

"They sure look like it!" Tommy said.

"They sort of look like marshmallows. They go great with chocolate!" JP said.

"Poyomon." Dai whispered, but no one heard except for Veemon who was in her arms.

One of the Poyomon cooed as it smooched it's face up against the window where Zoe was standing, contorting it's face until it looked a bit frightening and caused the blonde to yell and scare all of the Poyomon away.

"Probably ghosts of kids that came here before! What have I gotten myself into?" Takuya whimpered.

"I bet that's the train station. I hope there are none of those ghost things there. Not that I'm scared or anything." Zoe said.

"Yeah, I always scream in terror when I'm not afraid." JP scoffed.

"Humph. Boys." Zoe pouted.

The train stopped and the four kids looked outside the doors while the duo of Miracles looked out the windows to see that s group of Pagumon were smiling at them with mischief clear in their red eyes.

The kids were then pushed out of the train by a force of steam, landing on the warm metal ground.

"That first step's a doozy." a voice said.

"Did that train just talk?" Takuya asked.

Dai stepped out next, then looked back to the train.

"Hey, I'm not just any old train, I'm Trailmon and I'm alive, just like you. Although I am more handsome than you scrunched up little pugs, thank you very much. Any who, this here is Flame Terminal and you're in the heart of a digimon village." The Trailmon said.

"Digimon village?" Takuya asked.

The Pagumon got closer to them, laughing evilly and made the kids back up, trying to keep away and Tommy started crying.

"I didn't even wanna get on this train!" he cried.

"Sorry you feel bad kiddo, but I can't stick around, if you want to go home, you'll have to find a Spirit or somethin'!" Trailmon said, backing away.

"This kid should get a job as a fire alarm." JP said, referring to Tommy's cries.

"What's a Spirit and where do we get one? Hel-lo?!" Zoe asked.

"Give us an answer. Hey!" JP called.

"Hey yourself, I got a schedule to keep." Trailmon said.

The Trailmon kept backing away until he was gone.

"So, guess that's it. We're all alone." Takuya said.

"Wait, come back here!" JP called as he stood up, Zoe following his example.

"Yeah, pretty please?" she called.

"Take me home!" Tommy yelled as he stood up and ran over to the track.

"Hey, wait! Tommy, stop!" Takuya called as she chased after him.

"Why do I get the feeling we're gonna spend all our time recuing the baby?" JP asked.

"Tommy!" Takuya called.

"Go away!" the boy yelled back, sobbing as he walked out on the steel beam that was the train track.

"This isn't helping. You're gonna fall!" Takuya called after him.

"At least I won't be here anymore!" Tommy yelled back.

"Oh, I'll take you home." Takuya called making the boy stop and look back.

"Trailmon said that we have to find the Spirit to get home, so that's what we'll do. We'll get home." Takuya said.

"OK, I'm coming back." Tommy said as he turned to walk back over to the group, but he slipped and started to fall.

"TOMMY!" Takuya yelled.

Thankfully, Tommy clung to the beam in time so he didn't fall to his death making the goggle head sigh in relief.

"Don't move, I'm coming to get you." Takuya called as he started to head out.

Takuya ran over to help save him, but he was stopped by these green flames appearing on the other side of the village and two creatures ran towards him.

"Look what you've gotten me into." the white chicken said.

He and the yellow rabbit yelled as they tackled Takuya to the ground since he was in their way and they couldn't stop running in time to brace themselves.

"It's a human." the chicken said.

"You think everything's a human." the rabbit said.

"Don't start with me, you." the chicken snapped

"I'm human. Would you mind getting off me now?" Takuya said with a weird expression on his face.

"I'm so sorry, it was his fault." the chicken said.

"Yeah, my fault...Hey!" the rabbit yelped.

Some weird looking dog with three heads came out and the two small creatures hid behind Takuya.

"Oh no." Dai said with wide eyes as she ran over while JP and Zoe watched.

"What is that?" Takuya asked.

"That is one bad dog, bad dog. Cerberumon, special attack Emerald Blaze and that's why we need your help." The chicken said.

"Where's the ancient spirit?" Cerberumon asked.

"So whenever you're ready, go on and get him." The chicken said.

"That'd be good." The bunny said.

"I can sense the spirit's presence all over this town. I must destroy it." Cerberumon growled.

"No way! It's mine! I, ah, uh…" Takuya stuttered as the digimon, Bokomon and Neemon, whimpered fearfully.

"Then you shall be destroyed with it." Cerberumon said he then blasted green fire at them from his mouth.

"What, are you crazy? Run already!" the chicken said as he smacked Takuya's face.

"Yeah, but where am I supposed to go?" Takuya asked.

"Anywhere but here." The chicken said.

Takuya then ran after Tommy, grabbing from as the digimon clung to him.

"That mutt is going to eat up the entire village." Bokomon said as they turned to see the dog eating what looked like data that used to be the ground and tracks.

"Ah, great." Takuya said.

"There go the train tracks." The bunny said.

The beam started to fall making them cry out as JP and Zoe ran over.

"Takuya!" JP called.

"Oh no." Zoe said.

The group started to slide down the beam that was bending down, then slipped off and fell to the ground, Takuya shielding the digimon and Tommy with his body as he fell on his back, his black and red D-Tector falling in front of him as the screen lit up and beeped.

"Hey, my D-Tector." He said as it shot out a beam of light over to a vent that had flames shooting up and showed off a totem floating in the center of it as everyone got up and stared at it in awe.

"No way. What is…?" Takuya breathed.

"It's the spirit. Spirit of Flame." The chicken said.

"Spirit? That wasn't so hard. Time to go home. But how am I supposed to get it and what do I do with it when I do?" Takuya asked as he stood.

Cerberumon then jumped down behind them making them look over as Tommy clung to Takuya.

"No need to worry about that for it will soon be destroyed." He growled as he then charged at them.

Before he got close enough, a blue of blue hit him in the head and knocked him over.

Looking in awe, they saw that it was the stuffed animal that Dai had been carrying.

"Veemon, keep it up." She called down to him.

"Got it." Veemon smiled as he winked up at his partner.

"Huh?" JP and Zoe asked as they looked at the mahogany haired girl who wasn't being shy anymore, but looked brave and confident.

"What? How is that stuffed animal talking?" Takuya asked.

"You ninny. That's Veemon, a digimon that was once thought to be extinct. Veemon are known to be very lucky." Bokomon explained.

"Let's see how lucky you truly are." Ceberumon growled.

He then charged at Veemon, but the dragon punched the dog under the jaw and then in the face before he jumped up, going onto the dog's back and then kicked him down to the ground.

"I say pretty lucky." Veemon grinned.

"Nice." Takuya laughed as Tommy gave a small smile and the two Rookies cheered the dragon on.

"Don't get so cocky." Ceberumon warned.

He then used his Portals of Darkness, sending Veemon down into them and then closed it up making Dai's eyes widen in horror.

"VEEMON!" she yelled.

With that done, Ceberumon turned back to the ones standing in front of the Spirit of Flame and then charged.

Takuya looked up at Dai to see the sorrow and fear for her dragon in her eyes and then looked down at Tommy to see how scared he was, this made him make up his mind as he pushed the boy away and then grabbed a pipe.

"This sure rates pretty high on a scale of one to stupid." he said.

Cerberumon snapped his fangs down on the pole, breaking it and then jumped over the boy who grabbed onto the tail and was dragged along into the flames with him.

"Get out of my way human or suffer my wrath." Cerberumon snarled at him.

"No. But I hope his wrath isn't as bad as it sounds." Takuya said.

The dog was then set on fire and jumped away from the totem as he cried in pain.

"The Spirit's power! That hurt." He said as he rolled to put the flames out.

Dai jumped down, making JP and Zoe gasp in surprise, and then ran over to Tommy, Bokomon and Neemon.

Looking into the fire, she saw Takuya and another figure standing there.

"SPIRIT!" Takuya's voice yelled.

His D-Tector flew over to him and he caught it as he stood up and downloaded the totem into it and was covered in data and flames as he transformed.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

Agunimon roared as flames flickered around him as everyone stared in awe.

"What is this? A human turned into a digimon?" Cerberumon asked.

"What'd he turn into?" Tommy asked as the chicken pulled out a book.

"Let's see. Big and red, likes flame, not Santa Claus…Oh! Agunimon!" Bokomon gasped.

"No way." JP gasped.

"Every way." Zoe said.

"No matter who you are, you'll lose." Cerberumon said as he charged at Agunimon.

As he used his Emerald Blaze, Agunimon flipped away and grabbed Tommy, Dai and the digimon, dodging the next attack and getting up to where Zoe and JP were.

He then back flipped over to fight with Cerberumon while the others watched in awe or jealousy.

"Moto, cool." Zoe smiled while JP groaned.

Cerberumon was getting beat up by Agunimon, but the Portals of Darkness were opened up and Agunimon was forced down into them as Dai had tears shining in her eyes, fear of losing two friends in one day making her heart break.

Tommy saw how distressed Dai was and walked over to her, clutching onto her black tank top making her look down at him.

"Takuya and Veemon will be OK. I'm sure they will." He said.

She couldn't help but smile at him, but was sadly reminded of Cody and that made her look away from the boy just as there was an explosion and she looked over to the mountainside.

Agunimon had escaped the dark world with Ceberumon defeated and Veemon was safe on top of the Warrior of Flame's shoulder.

"Veemon!" Dai called with a smile.

Hearing her, Veemon looked over and gave a smile as he waved at her as Agunimon pulled out his D-Tector and then scanned Ceberumon's data, turning him back into a digi egg that floated off.

Floating back down to the ground, Dai ran off to go meet up with Agunimon and Veemon to see them.

Takuya turned back to normal and fell to his knees panting in exhaustion.

"Man, that's tiring. You…you were the one who saved me from getting hit by that truck." He said as Veemon stood in front of him.

"Yep. Dai is the one who can make me digivolve. She saw you were in danger, so her feelings for you made me digivolve to protect you." Veemon explained.

Takuya blinked at that, then smiled at the dragon and pet his head.

"Thanks for the help, buddy." He said.

"Hey, you saved me too. Now we're even. We'll work together to make Dai happy." Veemon said.

"Right." Takuya nodded.

But then Takuya remembered what had happened and then pulled out his D-Tector just as Dai made her way over, the others following her at a slower pace.

"But what did happen? How did I know how to do all that stuff?" Takuya asked.

"You are Digidestind." the voice said.

"I'm what now?" he asked.

"Digidestind! Chosen for great things. But don't be frightened. The one who chose you...was you." the woman said.

"I chose...myself?" Takuya asked unsure.

"Veemon!" Dai called.

"Dai!" Veemon cheered as he jumped into his partner's arms, relishing in the warmth of her body and the kisses she planted on his head.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." She said.

"I'll try not to." He said.

The others all made it, panting hard as they looked at the duo of Miracles curiously.

"So that stuffed animal is a digimon?" Zoe asked.

Hesitantly, Dai turned to her and nodded, then looked down at her dragon who smiled comfortingly at her.

"Ah, then you must be from one of the first two generations of Digidestinds. Tell me, which one are you from?" Bokomon asked.

Not talking, Dai held out her blue and white D-3 making Bokomon exclaim in awe.

"The second generation." He said.

"Dai was their leader and was the successor of Courage and Friendship and she's the child of Miracles, Keeper of the Golden Radiance." Veemon explained.

Everyone was staring at Dai in awe while she was avoiding their eyes, being reminded of her past leaving a foul taste in her mouth and a pang of sorrow in her heart as she remembered the insults and laughter.

After they got over that discovery, they turned their attention back to Takuya who was still in a daze from what had happened before.

"What just happened to me?" he asked.

"You mean before or after you turned into a digimon?" Zoe asked.

"Me? A digimon?" Takuya asked.

"Yes, through the process of digivolution." The chicken said as he walked by them looking like a professor giving a lecture.

"Digi-what? It had to be something I pressed." Takuya said as he started to push some buttons with a curious look, then got annoyed as started pushing buttons and hitting it.

"Come on, digivolution start! Operation! Turn me into a digimon!" he yelled.

Light and data then shot out of his D-Tector which made everyone jump back.

"Fractal Code: Render." The woman's voice said.

"Oh boy, I think I broke it." Takuya said.

"I knew it. It's the Fractal Code." The chicken said.

The data went over to the town and turned into a forest filled with houses which made the Poyomon and Pagumon all cheer happily as they started running to the forest.

"There's no way this is happening." JP said.

"Whoa, did I do all of this?" Takuya asked.

"It's the dawn of regeneration!" the chicken cried.

He and the bunny started going off to the forest, so the humans all ran off after them.

"No more living in a train station. Trailmon will never go 'Whoo whoo!' in my ear ever again." The bunny cheered.

"Nice going my human friend. By the way, I'm Bokomon; Keeper of the Book at your service." The chicken said.

"And I'm Neemon; keeper of my pants also at service you awesome human." The bunny said.

"On behalf of the Digital World, accept our thanks O' Human who has Restored what has been Lost." Bokomon said.

"Call me Takuya and I still don't know why all this Fractal Code stuff is such a big deal anyway." He said.

"What? You really don't know?" Bokomon asked.

"Ooh, he doesn't know." Neemon said.

"Hey, why are we running?" JP asked.

"I don't know." Zoe said.

They all then stopped as Bokomon pulled the Book out of his pink band.

"Behold! Before the evil Cherubimon came, our world was a beautiful place." He said.

"Flowers, trees and butterflies." Neemon said.

"Neemon, I'm in the middle of something here." Bokomon said.

"Sorry." Neemon sang.

"His power made many digimon go wild and our world started to die. The only way to bring back everything lost is with the Fractal Code." Bokomon explained.

"And I made it happen." Takuya said as he and the others pulled out their own D-Tectors.

"With this little device." He said making JP look up, then frown in thought.

"Wow, I wonder if I can do it too." Zoe said as she turned it over.

"Hmm, I know." JP said quietly as he looked at Tommy.

"Hey, Tommy." He whispered as he grabbed the boy and pulled him back.

"Our devices look the same." Zoe said as the others continued on.

"Maybe girls aren't meant to be digimon." Takuya said.

"Excuse you!" Zoe said annoyed.

"Actually, there are girl digimon like Angewomon, Lillymon and Birdramon." Veemon explained.

Zoe smirked at this while Takuya rolled his eyes at this, but then looked over to Dai who had been silent ever since she had been reminded about her horrible past.

It made him wonder if the reason she never spoke of her friends was because they were the Digidestinds and if something bad had happened.

They made it to a village with cute houses, then looked them over as the Poyomon played in the trees Veemon getting set down so that he could play with them.

Zoe looked over to Dai and then walked over to talk to her since she was the only other girl who was there.

"Hey, Dai. What happened when your team was in the Digital World, hmm?" she asked.

Avoiding her eyes, Dai turned away and just looked through the window of a house which put Zoe off.

"Hey, why are you ignoring me?" she frowned.

Takuya ran over and held his hands up.

"Easy there, girl. Dai just has some trust issues. It took me a while to get her to open up too." He said.

"Well, she was talking fine before." Zoe retorted.

"She wasn't talking to you, though. Just leave her alone and let her come around on her own." Takuya said.

"You never did that. You kept running after her and asking millions of questions until she got mad enough to snap at you and talk to make you shut up." Veemon reminded.

"You were there for that?" Takuya asked.

"I was always hiding in her backpack and sweater." The dragon said making Takuya sweat drop.

He then looked around curiously as he noticed two members of their group was missing.

"Hey, where's Tommy?" he asked.

"He's with JP I think." Zoe said as Bokomon opened up the window of the house Dai was staring into.

"Maybe they're playing hide and go seek." He suggested as Neemon stuck his head out next.

"Maybe they got eaten by a bunch of big ol' bears." The bunny said.

"Or maybe they made some big bad digimon mad and are running for their lives." Veemon pointed out.

"All right, now I'm worried." Zoe said.

"We better go look for them." Takuya said as he grabbed Dai's hand and pulled her off with him, Veemon following.

Zoe watched with her hands behind her head as the window fell on top of Bokomon and Neemon making them grunt before they joined in the search.

"Tommy! JP!"

"Tommy, where are you!"

"JP!"

They all looked called out for the two missing boys, but all they saw were tress, houses and Poyomon.

"Where could they be?" Zoe asked.

"Hey, Poyomon." Bokomon called making the white jellyfish stop and turn to them.

"Have you seen any human children?" he asked.

"We saw two being chased into the forest by Pagumon. Over there." The Poyomon said as they turned in the direction.

"Oh, that's worse than bears." Neemon said as his eyes bugged out.

"Pagumon?" Zoe asked.

"Nasty little digimon with bad attitudes." Bokomon explained.

"They're thieves and tricksters. Ya shouldn't trust them." Veemon commented.

Feeling worse about the situation, Takuya ran off to the forest as the others followed after him.

"Tommy!" Takuya yelled.

"Tommy! Answer me!" Zoe yelled.

"JP!" Takuya called.

"Ah, just as peaceful as I remember it, except for the screaming kids." Bokomon said.

"They are loud." Neemon said.

"Where'd they go? We've lost them!" Bokomon cried as he and Neemon ran off.

"Just follow the noise silly." Neemon said.

Dai rolled her eyes as she ran off in the direction the others had gone in, Veemon clinging to her shoulders as she caught up to Zoe and Takuya within thirty seconds which made them jump.

"How did she do that?" Zoe asked.

"I have no idea." Takuya said.

Shaking her head at this, Dai continued on to look for JP and Tommy while the goggle head and blonde talked behind her.

"Where could they have gotten off to?" Takuya asked.

"Poor Tommy, he's such a little guy. He didn't even wanna be here in the first place." Zoe said.

"Yeah, you're right. He really shouldn't be out without his parents." Takuya said making Dai roll her eyes.

"Hey, isn't Tommy the same age as Cody? I mean, Cody always went out without his mom and grandpa, so it's weird that Tommy is being treated differently." Veemon said to Dai.

"That's because he's probably a spoiled cry baby. He's just like Jun. all he has to do is ask for something and it's handed to him. I hate that. He's getting no sympathy for me. Tommy is a Digidestind and is gonna get treated like the rest of us. He shouldn't get special treatment because he's younger." Dai said.

Veemon smiled at this as he nodded.

She was right about this; Tommy shouldn't get special treatment just because he's younger because it wouldn't be fair to the other kids.

"I guess I'm just gonan have to keep my eye on him." They heard Takuya say as Zoe giggled.

"Look at you pretending to be all mature. How adorable." Zoe teased.

"Hey, what do you mean 'pretending'? I'm in the seventh grade." Takuya said defensively.

"Really, you're in the same grade that I am? Who'd have thought? I was sure you were two or three years younger at least." Zoe teased as the duo of Miracles turned to look at them.

"Wait a minute, what's that supposed to mean?" Takuya asked.

"When's your birthday?" Zoe asked.

"In August." Takuya said.

"Ha! I knew it. I am older. I was born in May. That makes me a grand total of three months older than you." Zoe smirked holding up three fingers.

Dai glared at the girl as she saw that Zoe was just like Yolei acting like a know it all and was better than anyone else.

"That doesn't mean anything." Takuya growled as he walked over to Dai and they walked off with Veemon close to them while Zoe followed.

"Whatever." Zoe giggled.

Takuya then stopped as he saw a green and white D-Tector on the ground and bent down to pick it up.

"Hey, check it out." Takuya said.

"That belongs to Tommy." Zoe gasped as she stepped closer to look.

Sadly, she slipped and grabbed on to the goggle head as they fell down into a hole making the duo of Miracles gasp as they fell down into the darkness.

"Seriously, I have a feeling these guys are gonna make me commit suicide." Dai said as she pulled off her sweater and then held it a different way so it would open up like a parachute.

Veemon jumped up and held onto her shoulders as she then jumped into the hole, the sweater catching the air and opening up like a parachute would as they floated down to where Zoe and Takuya were, both looking up to see the duo.

Bokomon and Neemon then fell down screaming.

Veemon and Dai held out the sweater like a net and caught the two Rookies making them sight in relief.

"Oh, bless you, child of Miracles. Bless you!" Bokomon exclaimed.

"Come on, we need to find Tommy and JP down here." Zoe said.

They all started walking down the underground room that had large heaters all over the place that were used to heat up Flame Terminal.

"Help! Anyone, please!" some cried.

"I wanna go home!" a younger voice yelled.

"It's Tommy and JP. We have to help them." Zoe said.

"I know that." Takuya said.

The two then glared at each other before they looked away.

"Oh, for the love-"Dai growled as she picked up Veemon and ran, leaving the arguing teens behind her so she didn't have to deal with their drama.

She had far too much drama to deal with for herself.

"Stupid Matt making me promise him to make a friend." She muttered.

"I thought you like Takuya." Veemon said.

"Not enough to go through this bull." Dai said.

Screaming was heard up ahead as Dai ran into a room to find a Raremon was there with JP, Tommy and that other boy from the train.

JP and Tommy went to run away, but the little boy tripped so bandana boy dropped his pole that was used as a weapon and recused Tommy before they were hit by the Acid Sludge that melted away the floor.

"Uh oh. This is bad. What do we do?" Veemon asked.

"I'll distract him and then you get him when he isn't looking." Dai said as she ran off.

"Hey, yo, raremon!" she called.

Raremon paused from chasing bandana boy and Tommy and turned to see the girl dressed in black who was smirking at him.

The raven and Tommy watched her curiously to see what she was going to do.

"Why ya going after the newbies? Afraid to take on someone with more experience? Catch me if ya can you pile of rotting sludge." Dai taunted.

Growling in annoyance, Raremon went after her and spewed out his acid at her but she dodged it all with great speed just as Takuya, Zoe, Bokomon and Neemon came in to see what was going on.

"Dude, you're so lame. Come on, try and get me." Dai taunted as she flipped away from another round of acid.

"Wow." Tommy said.

"She's acting differently." JP said.

Dai wound up next to Tommy and the raven as Raremon tried to corner them to the hole, but Veemon then jumped in making the Champion look down at him.

"Time to meet a real mon." Dai said as she pulled out her D-3 making the raven look at it.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon armour digivolve to…Flamedramon: the Fire of Courage!"

Everyone stared in awe at the new armour digimon while Bokomon had his Book out to read up on him.

"What happened to Veemon?" Zoe asked.

"He armour digivolved using the digi egg of Courage to become Flamedramon. His special attack is Fire Rocket and will char broil you like a steak." Bokomon said.

"Ooh, yum." Neemon said.

Flamedramon then charged at Raremon, sending him back into the wall as he started spewing acid around as Flamedramon jumped back and then used his Fire Rockets making Raremon cry out in pain.

"What? Am I too hot to handle?" Flamedramon smirked as he jumped back from another attack.

"Hold still!" Raremon roared as he spat out his acid.

It missed Flamedramon, but was heading over to the trio standing in front of the deep pit, Tommy and Dai diving to the floor while the raven leaned back to avoid getting hit, but tripped and went falling into the hole.

Gasping at this, Dai reached out and grabbed his arm making him look up at her as she was trying to pull him back up.

"This would be easier if you gave me your other hand." She commented.

He lifted up his other hand and she grabbed hold of it, pulling herself up as Flamedramon was still fighting Raremon.

Seeing his friend in trouble, Takuya then pulled out his D-Tector and started hitting buttons to try and get it to work.

"Man, work, already." He muttered.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

Agunimon then charged at Raremon, kicking him back into a wall, but the blob spewed out acid that went over to Dai as she was pulling the boy up, only to have her shoulder get hit and she screamed while the raven gasped at the scent of acid and burned flesh.

Tommy gasped as the two 13 year olds fell forward into the pit, Agunimon running over to try and help, but he transformed back to normal.

"Huh? I turned back into me. Oh, man. Flamedramon, we need your help!" Takuya cried to the dragon.

The two falling teens screamed as they fell down into the pit, darkness surrounding them, the raven pulling the girl closer, the stench of her wound making him sick, but she had tried to save him so he owed her some form of kindness before they died.

Just then, light appeared below the duo making them look down at the light as they saw the totem of a wolf man inside of it.

"What's going on here?" the male asked.

Light then flooded down into the hole as the totem started to rise up, the transparent form of a Humanoid wolf digimon appearing as it went over the sapphire eyed boy as spirals of white light shined in his eyes as Dai watched this in awe.

"SPIRIT!" bandana boy cried as he held out his white and dark blue D-Tector, sucking the totem up inside it.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"LOBOMON!"

Gasping at the sight of the bright red eyes staring down at her, Dai held on as the new Warriors started to float up out of the hole as the light reflected off of his armour, shining all around the room.

Flamedramon paused in his fight with Raremon as everyone stared at the wolf digimon and girl.

"Oh, wow." JP exclaimed.

"Man, did I look that cool?" Takuya asked.

"Mm hmm, yeah, but different." Tommy nodded.

Lobomon floated down to the ground as Flamedramon jumped over and held his arms out for his partner, the wolf handing the girl over.

"Thank you." the dragon said gratefully to him.

Lobomon gave a small grin as he nodded at him before looking over at Raremon.

"That's the Legendary Warrior of Light; Lobomon." Bokomon said as he checked the Book.

"I've never seen anything more beautiful in my whole life." Zoe sighed in awe.

"Me neither." JP said.

"You can say that again." Takuya said.

Raremon used his Acid Sludge as Lobomon pulled out his Lobo Kendo and charged out, slicing through the acid and then jumped up high, stabbing Raremon in the head making him cry out as purple sludge started to spew out of the Champion as Lobomon jumped away holding his D-Tector.

"Now you talking trash heap, prepare to be recycled. Fractal Code: Digitize!" he said as he downloaded Raremon's data into it and then the digi egg floated off.

"_Moto bravisimo_!" Zoe gushed.

Flamedramon set Dai down as he reverted back to Veemon while Lobomon returned to his human form, panting on his hands and knees.

"Not bad for your first evolution. Others have done way worse." Veemon smiled at the boy as he glanced over to the duo of Miracles.

Takuya felt jealously at how his friend had been held in the arms of a total stranger, but pushed it down as he ran over with Tommy to check on them.

"Hey, you OK? Let me help you up." Takuya offered as he reached his hand out.

"Don't touch me." the raven growled out making the goggle head jump back startled.

"I don't need your help or anyone else's." He said before he stood up.

"I'll try not to be offended by that." Dai muttered as she tenderly touched her wound only to flinch as the scent made her sick and the fact that her skin was still sizzling.

"But I guess I should thank you for saving me. I always repay my depts." The raven said.

"I didn't do it so you'd owe me ya know." Takuya said.

"Who said I was talking to you?" the raven scowled at the goggle head before he looked over to the duo of Miracles.

"My name's Koji Minamoto and you are?" he asked.

"Daisuke Motomiya." She said.

"Veemon." The dragon smiled.

"Daisuke, Veemon. See ya." Koji said as he walked off with a curt wave of his hand.

The others walked over as they watched him walk off on his own.

"What's his deal?" JP asked as he folded his arms behind his head.

"Come on, guys, let's get out of here. This place smells like dead fish." Zoe said.

Bokomon went over to Dai and grabbed her hand making her look down at him.

"Let me see your wound. It needs to be tended to properly before you get an infection." He said.

Nodding, Dai sat down as everyone watched her take off her sweater, the girl trying to not hiss as her wound hurt from her sweater being pulled off since the acid made it stick to her flesh.

The humans looked close to vomiting at the sight of the dark red burn that had green slime mixed in with blood.

"Oh, my. You're lucky to be alive. No human could have survived this." Bokomon said as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a first aid kit.

"Will she be OK?" Veemon asked.

"Let me get to work first." Bokomon said.

He then started to clean the wound while the other humans looked away, Takuya feeling guilty that he had jumped in and made Raremon shoot out his attacks all over the place that it hit Dai.

After the wound was cleaning, Bokomon then proceeded to stich it up which made Dai grit her teeth from the pain of the needle piecing her skin and JP turned pale as he passed out from the sight.

Bokomon then put some cream over the stitch job, then finally put on a patch to cover it.

"There. We'll just have to check on it again in a few hours and change the bandage to clean the wound to make sure there'll be no infection." He said proudly.

"Thanks, Bokomon." Dai smiled at him as she grabbed her sweater.

"Oh, if I may, I would like to wash that and sew it up. The scent wouldn't be very pleasant to have around." Bokomon said.

"You're pretty good at sewing." Neemon commented.

"Of course." Bokomon said smiling as he took the sweater and checked the hole out as he led the group out, Takuya lugging the unconscious JP with him.

"I did make this belly band myself after all so it would hold everything I would need." Bokomon said.

The group all walked out into the sunshine and fresh air, the sweet scent of the wind blowing around them as Zoe's hair glowed gold in the sunlight while Dai's hair turned dark red.

Everyone sat down by a lake and under the trees to rest up as Bokomon cleaned the sweater and then started sewing it up while Dai leaned up against a tree with Veemon sat in her lap.

Tommy nervously walked over to the duo.

"Um…" he said making them look at him.

"Does…does your arm hurt?" he asked pointing to the bandage.

"Not that bad now." Dai said.

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's my fault you got it. You came in to save me and got hurt because of it." he said looking down sadly with tears in his eyes.

"Don't cry. I've gotten hurt plenty of times before and it wasn't your fault. You don't have to cry for this. I'm not mad. If I was, I'd be yelling at you." Dai said giving him a smile.

"Oh yes she would. It doesn't matter how old you are, she'll yell at ya if she's mad at ya." Veemon giggled.

Tommy smiled at this knowing that Dai wasn't made at him especially after risking her life for him and Koji from a monster that terrified him like Raremon.

He wished he was as brave as she was.

"Ah, finished!" Bokomon cheered as he skipped over to Dai as JP woke up and looked over to where the girl was as she accepted her sweater and then slid it on to hide her wound.

"So…now what do we do?" JP asked.

To be continued…


	3. Kumamon and Kazemon

"Kumamon of Ice and Kazemon of Wind"

**Here is the next chapter. Please enjoy and review!**

After walking out of the forest, they went back to the terminal to find a Trailmon was waiting there.

"If you really wanna go home, all you have to do is hop on here." Neemon pointed to the Tarilmon.

"It's that easy? Huh." JP said as he looked at it thoughtfully.

"Neemon, a word please? What exactly are you trying to do?" Bokomon asked as he grabbed Neemon's pants and dragged him off to yell at him.

"Let go of my pants. What did I do? Ow, you're stretching the material!" Neemon whined.

"If you had a brain, you'd be dangerous." Bokomon said.

"I'm taking that bad boy home, huh? How 'bout it guys?" JP asked as he looked over to the others.

Takuya and Zoe were deep in thought while Bokomon was yelling at Neemon and snapping his pants as they continued to argue while Veemon watched them.

"Uh, you don't really wanna stay here do ya?" JP asked as he looked down at Tommy, but no one answered him which got on his nerves.

"Now that hurt." Neemon said as he was kicked down.

"Fine, you dweebs enjoy your little digital freak show. Come on, Tommy; let's blow this stupid pop stand." JP said as he hopped down and started heading for the Trailmon.

"Aren't you going with him?" Zoe asked as she saw the boy wasn't moving.

"I decided I want to stay here with you." Tommy said making Zoe and Takuya turn to him in surprise.

"I thought you wanted to go home." Zoe said.

"Not anymore." Tommy said.

"Go with, JP. It's too dangerous here, Tommy. Besides, the third grade is a formative year." Takuya said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No." Tommy said.

"Go home. Hurry up now." Takuya said as he pushed the boy off.

Tommy looked back at them sadly before he turned to follow JP off to the Trailmon.

"Take care of him, JP." Takuya said.

He then looked over to Dai as she watched the two boys leave.

"Dai, are you leaving? You might want a real doctor to check out your wound." He said in worry.

She shook her head at that and gave him a small smile to show she was fine.

"She'll be fine. Nothing can take down the ultimate team." Veemon boasted as he held out his fist, Dai giggling as she bumped it with her own fist while Takuya smiled at them, then frowned as he remembered the other girl.

"How 'bout you, huh?" he asked turning to the blonde.

"I have a name." she said.

"OK, Zoe, are ya leaving?" he asked.

"Why, would ya miss me?" she teased.

"I won't be responsible for your safety, you know." He said pointing to her as she crossed her arms.

"Good one, Romeo, I'll be fine." She said.

"This oughta be fun." He muttered.

Trailmon's whistle blew as he took off, smoke coming up as the others waved their friends off.

"Aviderchi!" Neemon said as he waved.

"Nice pronunciation." Zoe, Bokomon and Veemon said.

"Thank you." Neemon said thinking they were serious.

Zoe, Takuya, Dai and the Rookies turned to leave, but the sound of footsteps on metal made them turn around to see the two boys emerging from the smoke.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" Takuya asked.

"To be honest, I have absolutely no idea." JP said as he and Tommy rubbed the backs of their heads.

"Heh, me neither." Tommy said.

"Well, I'm not gonna be responsible for your safety. You're on your own." Zoe said making Takuya look at her in disbelief since she stole his bit.

"What a minute, are you mocking me? You are, aren't you? Man, you try to help a girl and-"

He was ignored as the boys laughed and they all started to walk off into the barren lands following the tracks.

Hours passed and it was now sunset, Bokomon skipping over to Takuya to speak with him.

"Uh, I hope you're planning on helping us, Mister Takuya." He said as Takuya looked at him bored.

"You carry with you the spirit of Agunimon, one of the 10 Legendary Warriors. You both can defeat the digimon turned evil by Cherubimon. Only you have the power to save us! You must take heart before the Digital World is destroyed!" Bokomon said as he bounced around in stress.

"You need to calm down, buddy." Takuya said.

"My name's Bokomon and I'm not your 'buddy'. I don't think you understand the severity of the situation here!" he yelled making everyone stop and frown at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to yell, but we need the data from the Fractal Code. It's the only way to rebuild the Digital World. Please, help us get the Fractal Code back. Save our world before it's too late. Will you?" Bokomon begged down on his knees with hands clasped with watery eyes.

This didn't affect Takuya at all as he continued to pout ahead of him.

"Neemon, don't just stand there like a cheap TV antenna! I need your help. Say something!" Bokomon said as he jumped up.

"Some…thing." Neemon said making Veemon giggle at that.

"Are you really that dense or do you just do that to annoy me?" Bokomon yelled as he snapped Neemon's pants.

The D-Tectors then started to beep making the humans pull them out.

"Attention, go to the Forest Terminal immediately." The woman said.

"What's a Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.

"What is a Forest Terminal?" Zoe, Tommy, JP, Dai and Veemon asked.

"How am I supposed to find it? Hey, hey answer me!" Takuya yelled as the voice cut out.

"Let's see. Forest Terminal is a station located deep within the realm of the Forest Kingdom." Bokomon read from the Book.

"We just follow the tracks. They'll take us right to it." he said looking at the tracks they were walking along.

"How long do we have to follow them?" Neemon asked.

"Well, let's see. It says…all the way." Bokomon grunted in frustration as the others blanched at this.

"You're full of useless information, aren't you? wait a minute. Veemon, can't cha digivolve into something that can carry us all to the Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.

Everyone looked at the dragon happily.

"Well, I can turn into Imperialdramon and can be anywhere around the world in only a few seconds." He said making everyone smile and cheer.

"Veemon, you can't digivolve to Imperialdramon without Wormmon around." Dai reminded.

"Oh, yeah. I guess we'll just have to walk then." Veemon chuckled.

He was happy that she said one of their old friends' names without any pain flashing in her eyes.

The others all whined as they fell to the ground in disbelief while the duo of Miracles walked by them, then the group just got up and dragged themselves after the girl and her dragon.

"What made you change your mind about going home?" Takuya asked the heavyset male.

"Hmm? Well, I really didn't have much going on back there anyway, and I thought it might be kinda fun to hang out with you guys and get to know ya a little better." JP said with a blush.

"Get to know Zoe ya mean." Takuya chuckled making JP's face burn red as he turned to him in annoyance.

"Hey that is not what I meant!" JP said as they stopped walking.

"Oh yeah? Then why are ya all red buddy?" Takuya teased pointing at JP's face.

"It's hot out! I'm sun burned! What grade are you in anyway?" JP demanded.

"Seventh, is that a problem?" Takuya asked.

"Huh? Well, I'm in eighth grade!" JP said.

"Like I'm supposed to care." Takuya sighed with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Like I care if you care. I should've bolted from this digi dump when I had the chance." JP complained as they started walking to catch up to Zoe and Tommy since Dai and Veemon were far ahead leading the group.

"Tommy, why didn't you go home?" Zoe asked the little boy as he jumped off the tracks he was walking along.

"I decided I want to be like Takuya and Dai." He said hopping off the tracks.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"To become a digimon so I won't be scared all the time." He explained.

"But Dai can't become a digimon." Zoe said.

"No, but she's really brave. She jumped in to help me with Veemon without even worrying about getting hurt herself. She even had a plan as soon as she saw me in trouble." Tommy said as he stared ahead at the mahogany haired girl.

Zoe smiled softly as she saw the way he idolized the girl from just meeting her and realized that even though Dai had been rude at first, the girl must have had a good reason for it especially if she was kind enough to risk her life for two strangers.

"What about your mom and dad waiting at home? I bet they're worried." Zoe said.

"I miss my parents, but when I come back, I won't be afraid anymore, so they'll forgive me for being gone." Tommy said as he looked sad, but then ran off.

Zoe watched in worry as he ran off, then continued after him.

Night had fallen on them as the group walked on, three moons glowing above them; one was yellow, another was blue and the last one was red.

They had to stop when they found the tracks cut off at a canyon and were unsure of what to do.

"Ugh, this is a fine mess." Bokomon said.

"So what now?" Takuya asked.

"Check it out guys, that trail leads to the bottom." JP pointed out the zig zagging path down the canyon where there were some lights from what they thought were torches.

"Looks like a village down there. Maybe they can help us." Takuya said.

Nodding, the group all raced down to the bottom, but it was empty save for the river and a cave.

"That's weird. I could've sworn those lights were coming from right here." JP said.

"Looked like that to me." Zoe said.

"Takuya, Dai." Tommy said tugging at the two teen's arms.

Everyone turned to see that Tommy was looking at what looked to be a monument of an angel that looked like a child with eight wings on his back and two on his head.

Beside it were eleven markings that circled around each other.

"What is that?" Takuya asked.

"Kinda pretty." Zoe said.

"Pretty? Pretty she says. These are the marks of the 10 Legendary Warriors." Bokomon read from his Book.

"The 10 Legendary Warriors?" the group asked.

"Hey, isn't that guy Lucemon?" Veemon asked pointing to the angel.

"Yes, yes he is. It's to know that you know about him." Bokomon said.

"I've never heard of them." Neemon said.

"Are you serious? The legend of the 10 Warriors was the first thing we learned in Digital World History." Bokomon said.

"…I must've been sick that day, but they sure are pretty." Neemon said.

"In ancient times there were terrible wars between Humanoid digimon and Beast digimon for control of the Digital World. One day an angel digimon named Lucemon appeared. He taught them how to resolve their differences and live in peace and then the fighting stopped. Lucemon was a wise and kind ruler, but peace in the Digital World was short lived. Lucemon, obsessed with his power, began to torment the peace loving digimon until they could take no more. Then the 10 brave Warriors rose up against him and after a fierce battle, they defeated Lucemon, restoring the peace." Bokomon explained.

"The legend says that the Spirits of the ancient Warriors will rise again in times of trouble." He finished closing the Book.

"Read it to me again." Neemon said.

"Mm, no." Bokomon said putting the Book in his band.

"I know that symbol." Tommy said pointing.

"It's the same we saw when Takuya evolved into Agunimon." Zoe said.

"And that mark next to it was the one on Koji's shoulder when he turned into Lobomon." Tommy said.

"I wonder if I'll be next. Oh, I hope my digimon's cute." Zoe said.

"I'm gonna be like the biggest, scariest digimon ever." Tommy said.

"Not likely shorty. I mean, there's no way we'll all get to be digimon." JP said crushing his spirits.

"Huh? We've got company." Takuya said turning and the others did the same to see what looked to be candle digimon with their wicks lit.

"Candlemon, they're Rookie level just like me, but their waxy build up really burns." Veemon said.

"Why have you humans come to our village? You're not welcome here." A candle with a mustache said as he stood on the other side of the lake with two others flanking him.

"We were on our way to the Forest Terminal. Sorry to disturb you, we were just passing through." Takuya said.

"You're melting my heart." The chief said.

"Ooh, that's a no-no." the other digimon said.

"You mean to steal the ancient artifact from us don't you? Well, you won't get away with it." the chief said.

"He's right. The humans must be punished." The candle on the left said.

"Hey boss, you want us to wax him for ya?" the candle on the right asked.

"Wait, stop, let me explain. These humans have come to help us save the Digital World, not steal some artifact." Bokomon said.

"But we didn't know that at first." Takuya said.

"You're not helping." Bokomon scolded.

"This may be hard to believe, but somehow this boy was infused with one of the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors. Agunimon." Bokomon said.

"Did you say Agunimon? Impossible." The chief said.

"That's a hot one." Another said.

"What if it really is him?" another asked.

The group all watched over the candles as they yelled at each other, some believing and others not as their voices overlapped.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" the chief asked as he and the two flanking him turned to talk this over, then quickly turned back.

"Please forgive our rude behaviour our young friends." The chief said with a smile as he jumped over the stones in the lake that led to them.

"We are the Candlemon tribe and it is our sacred duty to protect the ancient artifact. So which of you inherited the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors?" he asked.

"It was this one, Takuya." Bokomon said pointing at the goggle head.

"Ah, well, you certainly have a brave face young man. On behalf of all the Candlemon tribe, I bid you all welcome. Please, be our guests." The chief said as he went off to his tribe.

"Something's weird." Takuya muttered.

"Come along now. Don't dawdle." The chief called.

Shrugging, the group followed him to where a large candle was lit in the middle of a bonfire and had the marks of the Warriors on it and had Candlemon dancing around it holding large four-leaf clovers.

"Looks like a birthday party." Takuya said.

"It's for you my friends, a welcome ceremony. Enjoy!" the chief said.

"Come closer, feel the warmth of the flame." He said as he let the group walk closer to the fire.

To their surprise, the clovers were thrown into the fire and a green mist floated up around it and the Candlemon were waving their hands to fan the mist over to the humans who were getting drowsy.

"Ugh, look at this. It's sleeping clover." Bokomon said.

"It's nappy time anyway." Neemon yawned as they both fell down, falling asleep.

"I can't keep my eyes open." Zoe said as she fell to the ground.

"Yeah." JP said softly.

"Night." Tommy said as he fell asleep.

Veemon dropped down snoring while Dai dropped down next to him shaking her head off to try and stay awake as she picked him up in her arms.

"So you've claimed the Spirits of Agunimon have you? Bah! We'll soon shed some light on this. Let's turn up the heat on these artifact filatures. Get them, Candlemon!" The chief said.

Shouting in agreement, the Candlemon started to charge at the humans.

"Hey, we can't stay here. Come on." Takuya said as he started to shake Tommy awake.

"Huh? The river! Dive in!" Takuya said as he pulled them over to the water and jumped in with them all as the Candlemon spat out flames at them.

Tommy was having trouble, but Takuya grabbed him and pulled his head above water.

"That was a great idea." He said as the five humans and dragon were pulled down the current to safety.

"I'll never complain about my alarm clock again." Zoe said.

"Yeah, nice way to wake up. Did we really have to hop into the river?" JP asked.

"Takuya said we had to dive in or we were gonna burn up." Tommy said.

"Oh yeah?" JP asked.

"Oh, did I disturb your beauty sleep?" Takuya asked.

"Honestly, you want bad ways to wake up, try having Dai's sister barging into the room shrieking." Veemon pouted.

"We'll be safe as long as we stay here. Fire digimon like Candlemon can't come near the water." Zoe said.

"Guess again!" a Candlemon said as the digimon came after them.

"Go under!" Takuya yelled.

They dived down so they weren't hit by the Lava Lugies that were spat at them by the Candlemon.

Safe from the flames, the humans and dragon swam down through the water until they found a cave they could hide in above them, but they hide by the walls as they watched the digimon far off to find them.

"I'll distract them then on my signal you guys make a break for it." Takuya said.

"Some plan." Zoe said.

"Hang on a minute mister president. I don't remember electing you leader of this stupid club, right?" JP said.

"Yeah, that's right. We're all in this together, so any decisions we make we make as a team, OK?" Zoe asked.

"I really wanna help, but I'm too slow. You guys should go on without me." Tommy said.

"That's not an option. If I Spirit Evolve to Agunimon, I can snuff out the Candlemon." Takuya said.

"Right, Spirit Boy, better read your digimon instruction manual before you try something dumb like that again." JP said.

"He's right. You shouldn't try to fight alone. You're not very good at it yet." Zoe said.

"I'm starting to feel insulted. I can fight too." Veemon said.

Dai chuckled softly at that as she pet his head before she heard yelling.

"Here they come, duck!" JP yelled making them all dive down and watched as two Candlemon passed by them, then came back up.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Takuya said as he pulled his goggles over his eyes.

"Just get Tommy out of here, OK?" Takuya asked.

He then dived down into the water and swam over to the other side.

"OK, let's move." JP said as they started to climb up to the cave.

"I've seen one of them. Get him!" the Candlemon yelled making the group gasp as they saw Takuya running from the danger.

"Takuya!" JP called when Takuya tripped and dropped his D-Tector.

He made a jump for it and grabbed it, flipping over onto his feet as everyone watched him.

"Spirit Evolution time!" he cried holding his D-Tector up into the air.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

Tommy, JP, Veemon and Zoe all cheered for the Warrior of Flame while Dai just smiled at him.

"Well, I'll be dipped. The brat really is Agunimon." The chief said as Bokomon and Neemon woke up to cheer.

The Candlemon spat out flames at Agunimon, but he just slammed his fists together as flames appeared and swirled around his arms.

"I summon the Pyro Tornado!" Agunimon roared.

He then blasted the Candlemon back, but it just made their flames grow and they laughed.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

"Fire attacks don't work on Candlemon. He should know that." Zoe said.

"Yeah, that wasn't too bright." JP said.

"Hey, go easy on the guy. As if you guys are digimon experts." Veemon scolded them.

"Come on, I better get us outta this hole before we get waxed." JP said as he turned with the others following him to run away, but JP slipped and fell down.

"I hate ice skating." He groaned holding his hurt side.

"Be careful, Tommy." Zoe said as the boy whimpered as he looked around at the ice and icicles all around them.

"I'm trying." Tommy said.

"Wow, I didn't see that before." JP said.

"We should be safe from those hot heads in there." Zoe said.

Dai turned her attention back to the fight as Agunimon tried to block the flames that were pushing him back.

"Please give me a Spirit. I wanna help." Tommy said as he pulled out his D-Tector and started pushing buttons.

"Give it up, kid. The Spirits of the Legendary Warriors would never give their power to a pipsqueak like you." JP said making Dai's fist clench in anger as the insult made her think back to all of those times she had overheard her friends insult her behind her back.

"Looks like it's really up to me. Aw, man. I really wish this came with a manual." JP whined as he tried to get his D-Tector to work.

"That stuff hurts." Agunimon said and then yelled as he was hit by wax that hardened to make him stay in place so he couldn't attack.

"Ah, Agunimon, hang on." Tommy called.

"I can't…I can't move anything." Agunimon said.

Tommy then slid down the side of the cliff making Dai gasp as she watched him go, Zoe and JP flanking her as they watched the run into the river.

"Hang on Takuya, I'm coming!" he said.

"Tommy, no!" Zoe called.

"Stop kid!" JP called.

Tommy had taken his hat off and was using it as a bucket to pick up water and splash the Candlemon with it, making them back off from it.

"Lights out ya meanies. I won't be just a little kid in the way ever again!" He said.

Dai and Veemon smiled at this proudly as the boy showed courage like a true Chosen Child.

Behind them in the cave, a sea green light shot out of the ice making them turn to see a white and green bear shaped totem was in the light.

"Momma Mia." Zoe gasped.

The Spirit floated down over to where Tommy was making him stop splashing water and then placed his hat on as the river froze all around him, but he wasn't shivering.

"It's a Spirit. Spirit, come to me." he said as he pulled out his D-Tector and downloaded it inside.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"KUMAMON!"

"That's amazing." Zoe said.

"That's impossible." JP said.

"Not really." Dai said making them look at her.

"Tommy proved himself, so the Spirit chose him. It happened once before with the Crests and armour digi eggs." Veemon explained.

The Candlemon were talking in awe and shock while Neemon cheered.

"What in blazes?" the chief gasped.

"Ah, it is. It's Kumamon: the Legendary Warrior of Ice." Bokomon said as he read from the Book with Neemon leaning over his shoulder.

Kumamon ran over on the ice towards Agunimon and the Candlemon.

"Time to teach you bullies a lesson." Kumamon said as he used his Crystal Breeze, freezing one of the Candlemon.

"Hey there teddy bear. You want a playmate, ha cha." The second said as he spun in a tornado of flame as data swarmed around it, then faded away to reveal his Champion form.

"Wizardmon?!" Dai and Veemon exclaimed.

"Wizardmon, this mysterious Champion level digimon can make you disappear with his Electro Squall and Magical Game attacks." Bokomon explained.

Kumamon used his Crystal Freeze, but Wizardmon jumped over it.

"Take off teddy." He said as he kicked the bear back.

"Kumamon!" Agunimon called as the spell caster laughed.

"Looks like the great Agunimon has a little problem with waxy buildup. How about a little Magical Game? Ta-ta!" WIzardmon said as he lifted his cape and then turned invisible.

"His voice sounds like Tai's. Am I crazy?" Veemon asked.

"You thought Takuya's voice sounds like Matt's too." Dai said.

"But they sound similar!" the dragon insisted making his partner groan while Zoe and JP shared confused looks.

Agunimon then shook off the wax and stepped forward to look around for Wizardmon.

"That was weird." Kumamon said as he stayed lying on the ground.

Agunimon turned his head around when he heard the footsteps of the invisible digimon to try and find him through sound.

"Up here. I know. Let's play catch." Wizardmon's voice said as lightning appeared from thin air above Agunimon, but he stepped away.

Laughing, Wizardmon became visible again on the ground where he first stood.

"Not bad Legendary Warrior, but I've got plenty up my sleeve." Wizardmon said as he multiplied, circling Agunimon to box him in.

"Too bad you're going to lose no matter which Wizardmon you chose." The spell caster taunted.

"Which is the real Wizardmon?" JP asked.

"They all look the same to me." Zoe said.

"Agunimon, don't you? All these Wizardmon are me. We all look real because we are. Just try to run, you won't get far." Wizardmon said, but different ones said a different sentence to confuse Agunimon.

"This is just a game. Only one is real and I'm gonna find him." Agunimon growled.

"Every Warrior must fall. Your time is up. Electro Squall!" Wizardmon said as they all shot out lightning at Agunimon who jumped up high to avoid it.

On the ground, Kumamon noticed that a shadow of the spell caster was cast over him making it easy to see that the real one was in front of him and never moved.

"Agunimon, look down here. Only one of them has a shadow." Kumamon called making the blonde Warrior look down.

"Thanks. Game's over." Agunimon roared as he kneed Wizardmon in the stomach making his illusions fade away as he fell back and was covered in data.

"I never did believe in magic. Here's a trick for ya. Fractal Code: Digitize!" Agunimon said as he downloaded the data into his D-Tector making Wizardmon return to Candlemon.

"Yay! _Moto bene_!" Zoe cheered.

"Yeah, mo-What she said!" JP cheered.

Agunimon walked over to Kumamon and gave him a hand up.

"Thanks Agunimon." The Warrior of Ice said.

"No, thank you. You're one brave little bear." Agunimon said making the bear chuckle.

"Well, I guess this proves that they really are the Legendary Warriors after all." A Candlemon said as the chief stepped over.

"Yes, I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." The chief said as Takuya and Tommy returned to normal.

"You have indeed proven yourselves worthy of carrying the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors my young human friends. Takuya and little Tommy, you two have truly honored the great names of Agunimon and Kumamon. I salute you both." The chief said.

The Candlemon all cheered as the duo of Miracles, JP and Zoe joined them on shore to have a talk with the chief about why they had to fight.

"I'm afraid I owe you all an apology. The truth is we thought you might possess the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors, but we still had to make sure. I'm sorry we didn't trust you." the chief said.

"So then all of this has been a test?" Tommy asked.

"Well that pretty much stinks. You're lucky I don't pinch your lights out for that." Takuya said as everyone glared at the Candlemon.

"I'm so sorry. You have every right to be angry." The chief said.

"No they don't." Dai said making everyone look at her.

"The first group had tests that nearly cost them their lives. Their first test was defeating Devimon, the King of the Digital Underworld and then there was Myotismon and the Dark Masters was their final battle. Sadly, Myotismon came back and it was me and Dai who defeated him. Vampires are my least favorite monsters." Veemon said.

"So you all shouldn't be complaining now since Wizardmon is an insect compared to those guys." Bokomon said.

Takuya looked over at Dai as he realized that she had truly lived a whole different life style and he had no idea what it was or what happened in it.

What happened and why didn't she want to tell him about it?

"Fractal Code; Render." The woman's voice said.

A stream of data shot out to where the unfinished tracks lay and it was completed.

"Wizardmon had the Code." Bokomon said.

"Wizardmon held within him the Code for the bridge which protected our village from evil digimon. Young Takuya, for many years no one has crossed this canyon, but you have my official permission to use this bridge. Follow the tracks and they will lead you to the Forest Terminal, but it is a periless journey." The chief said.

"Uh, maybe we should think about this guys. There's still time to go home." JP said as Zoe giggled.

"You're just jealous because Tommy found his inner digimon and you haven't yet." She said.

"Why would I even care about that? Shorty can have it. it's just that being here is like working." JP said.

"And we all know how you feel about that." Takuya teased making everyone laugh.

Lights came from above making them look up to see a Trailmon going over the bridge.

"Hey, somebody else just beat us across the bridge." Takuya said.

It was obvious to them that it could only be Koji and there was a very high chance that he was heading to the Forest Terminal as well.

(In the morning…)

"So guys, are we there yet?" JP asked as they walked along the tracks.

"Let's see, what's wrong with this picture? Desert looking waste land, Forest Terminal. I'm gonna say 'no'." Takuya mused.

"Aw, I'm tired. Let's take a rest." Tommy groaned as he stopped, but got moving again when Takuya placed his hands on his shoulders and started pushing him forward.

"But there's a scenic route coming up ahead." Takuya said.

"You know, JP, if you hadn't fed chocolate to that Trailmon, we'd be riding in air conditioned comfort right now." Takuya said as he balanced on the tracks.

"So he made a mistake. What're you gonna do, take away his bowling shoes?" Zoe said.

A train whistle sounded making then all paused and turn to see a Trailmon that looked like a pink mole coming up the tracks.

"Hey, hey! It's a Trailmon! Hey!" Takuya called as he waved his arms.

"Ugh, finally." Zoe said.

Trailmon stopped in front of them curiously.

"Hey Trailmon, what's up? Can you take us to the Forest Terminal?" Takuya asked.

"Oh, I over ate at my last stop. Besides, I'm a freight train, no riders, no exceptions." Trailmon said as Zoe ran over and jumped up on him.

"Trailmon, I'm as light as bubble wrap. _Andiamo_." She said.

"Just think of us all as cargo." Takuya said as he and the others males all hopped on while Dai and Veemon watched off of the tracks.

Trailmon was giggling as they clung to his sides rather than jumping in the cars like a normal person would.

"Your little fingers are tickling me something awful." He giggled as he shook them all off.

"It's too much. I'd like to bend the rules, but I'm just too ticklish. Sorry kids. Just keep on that track, we'll get there." Trailmon said as he rode off.

"So much for getting there soon." Takuya said from sitting on his head with his butt in the air.

"Come back here! TRAILMON!" Zoe yelled.

Getting up, they all walked off down the tracks like Trailmon had told them until they came to a place where the tracks split up to a desert land while the other was a lush forest.

Bokomon walked over to a switch and hopped up on it and started to swing back and forth on it.

"The track splits here. Now which way to go? Left or right, right or left? Or up or down, on and off, fast or slow. Time to make a decision. Oh, I made myself sick." He groaned.

"This way." Takuya said pointing to the desert area.

"That way." Zoe said pointing off to the forest area.

"You're wrong!" Takuya said facing her.

"Why? Just because I disagree with you? Don't you think the Forest Terminal just might be surrounded by trees?" she yelled as they glared at each other.

"Trailmon said stay on the track and your way curves left. You think you know everything!" Takuya said.

"Well I'm right!" Zoe said.

"You wanna go right?" he asked.

"No, I'm going the way that makes sense!" she said.

"Later." she turned and walked off to the left.

"Wait up, Takuya." Tommy called as he chased after the goggle head.

"Hey, we should stick together." JP said as he ran after the blonde.

"What do we do, Dai?" Veemon asked.

"If I'm alone with those two I'll go insane and get into a fight with Zoe mistaking her for Yolei. So let's go with Takuya and Tommy." Dai said as she turned towards the two boys and ran after them as Veemon followed, then Bokomon and Neemon went after Zoe and JP.

Hearing footsteps, Takuya stopped and turned around only to smile as he saw that Dai had caught up to them along with Veemon.

"Hey, so you agree with me, huh?" Takuya asked.

"No. I just don't want to be alone with them. They remind me way too much of people I hate." Dai stated.

Tommy looked curious at that but saw that she seemed to have relaxed more now that she was away from the others.

"OK, you seriously need to tell me about these other Digidestinds. If they're your friends then why have you never told me about them?" Takuya asked.

Veemon moaned sadly as Dai's eyes darkened which made Takuya and Tommy stare in confusion.

"Let's just say I found out they aren't real friends." Dai said before she continued on.

Tommy and Takuya watched her go with worried looks while Veemon ran to catch up to her.

"Dai, maybe ya should tell them about the others. It'll help them understand ya better." The dragon said.

"I don't want to be betrayed again, Veemon. I don't think I can take another heartbreak like that. Cherrymon almost got me and a stronger digimon might try to turn me and use me for evil like Cherubimon and he's a Mega." Dai said.

Veemon whined sadly at that and nodded in understanding as he held her hand to provide comfort and she smiled at him which made him smile as they continued on, but slowed their pace so the boys could catch up to them.

"Should we find a gas station and ask for directions?" Tommy asked after walking for nearly an hour in the hot sun.

"No way." Takuya said.

"Then what do we do?" Tommy asked.

"Keep walking." Takuya sighed.

"Something's bound to-"he was cut off as he stepped on the ground and it started to crumble under his feet making the group all gasp in shock.

"Tommy, run!" Takuya screamed.

They all turned and ran as the ground kept crumbling behind them.

"I don't know what's happening, but just keep moving!" Takuya yelled.

Tommy and Takuya tripped on the tracks and fell down making Veemon and Dai stop to help them up when the crumbling finally stopped much to their relief, but Tommy's foot was over to new canyon which freaked him out in case the ground started to fall apart again.

"Tommy, move slowly." Takuya said as the boy slowly backed over, a stone falling down as he clung to the goggle head.

"This might be a good time to find that gas station little buddy." Takuya said as Tommy whimpered and shook in fear.

"Well, worse could've happened." Veemon said.

"Don't give us an example." Dai said.

"Uh, listen, I think we went the wrong way." Takuya said.

"No duh!" the duo of Miracles said.

"Let's be calm…" Takuya said, but Tommy then burst into tears and wailed loudly.

"Oh, if this is your calm, I don't wanna see upset." Takuya moaned.

Veemon and Dai shared a look as the girl pulled out her digivice.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon armour digivolve to…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

The two boys turned to see the new digimon as Dai grabbed hold of his spikes and pulled herself up to mount him.

"Come on, we're ditching this place." Dai said holding her hand out to them.

Tommy got up and took her hand with both of his to get pulled up onto the dragon to sit in front of her while Takuya pulled himself up behind Dai.

"So who are ya now, buddy?" he asked.

"Raidramon. Now hang on because I'm not slowing down." the dragon warned.

He then took off making the boys scream as Tommy grabbed onto the spikes tightly and Takuya wrapped his arms around Dai's waist so he wouldn't fall off.

"You boys are all just pathetic." Dai muttered as she shook her head in disbelief.

Was Matt the only male who wasn't afraid of going at great speeds to get somewhere?

In about ten minutes they made their way back to a lush village filled with Floramon and three Mushroomon who were talking about something while Zoe, JP, Bokomon and Neemon just stood around.

"We have returned!" Takuya called dramatically.

"Finally." Zoe exclaimed as she turned around, but gasped while JP yelled as Raidramon did a mighty jump and landed right behind them making them turn.

"Hey, is that Veemon? Why couldn't he do that before?" JP complained.

"I didn't wanna carry everyone to some place that would take us a few days to get too." Raidramon said as Takuya slid down while Dai handed Tommy over and then she jumped down as Veemon reverted back to normal.

"I'm getting really sleepy." He yawned making his partner smile at him and then cradled him in her arms.

"You blew it. Where were you four?" Zoe asked.

"Uh, that's quite a story. After a while we thought you'd need us so we decided to check back in." Takuya said rubbing his head nervous with a smile.

"No, you made a wrong turn and missed a once in a life time show." Zoe said.

"Yeah right, don't try to psych us out Zoe. You know we didn't miss a thing." Takuya said.

"Well you didn't get to see me Spirit Evolve." Zoe teased making the four missing members look at her in surprise.

"Wait, you did what?" Takuya asked.

"You Spirit Evolved?" Tommy asked.

"Mm hmm." Zoe nodded proudly as she waited to be praised by the two boys and then get an apology for not agreeing with her on where to go.

Takuya and Tommy shared a look before they started laughing which shocked her that they didn't believe her at all.

"Yeah right." Takuya said.

"Like you could." Tommy said.

"You really thought we'd believe that." Takuya said as they continued laughing.

"They're dead." Veemon stated.

"They deserve it for being so sexist." Dai said.

"I've had it with you guys! You run off and then you think a girl like me can't Spirit Evolve?!" Zoe yelled as she stormed over to them and put them in a headlock.

JP was standing off to the side looking at the sky sadly and Dai walked over to him to see what was wrong with him.

She placed a hand on his arm to make him look at her.

"What's up with you?" Veemon asked.

"It's nothing." JP said shaking his head at them.

Dai narrowed her eyes in thought and she came to figure that he must be upset because he hadn't gotten his Spirit yet so he was feeling like he didn't belong.

Sighing, Dai decided to confide in him while Zoe was trying to kill Tommy and Takuya.

"Were you ever used by people you thought were your friends?" she asked.

JP gasped as he looked at her to see the shadows in his eyes that were reflected in her own.

"Why do ya ask that?" he asked defensively.

Her lips curved up into a hollow smirk.

"Because it happened to me too. The Digidestinds used me to save the world while they secretly bad talked me and I found them saying so many bad things like how stupid I am, pathetic, lame and…I would just stand there behind the door listening to them, then would fake a smile as I walk inside. When I got home I would lock myself in my room and cry myself to sleep." Dai said.

JP stared at her in shock of what she had revealed to him while Veemon looked up at her proudly that she had confided in someone.

Dai then turned away from the heavyset male as he came to realize that they were similar in how they were treated.

To be continued…


	4. Ladies and Gentlemen the Beeltemon

"Ladies and Gentlemen; the Beetlemon"

**Please enjoy and review!**

The group were in the forest staring up at a train track far off as that mole Trailmon rode off on it and then continued on with their journey until they started walking in a canyon where the tracks led.

A big wind picked up and blew the sand around them as they covered their heads and eyes.

"Hey, cool. My ears are full of sand." Neemon laughed.

"Yes and your head is full of rocks." Bokomon said.

"Wow, I haven't been in a wind this strong since, well, ever." Tommy said as he clung to Dai's sweater.

There was a whistle up ahead and a black Trailmon was coming at them making them all yell and run off the tracks so they wouldn't get hit.

"That was close. Why do things in the Digital World always come out of nowhere?" Takuya asked as they watched the Trailmon pass by them.

"What do you mean 'nowhere'? We're walking along train tracks." Bokomon pointed out.

"So?" Takuya asked as they continued along.

"So where there are tracks there's a train. It's kind of like that whole smoke, fire thing." Bokomon said.

They found what looked to be a factory that had a few tubes blowing out wind from it and also had a large windmill on top.

"Wow, awesome." Tommy smiled.

"Welcome to Wind Factory Incorporated." Bokomon said.

"Wind Factory Incorporated?" Zoe asked as they watched some digimon walk off inside the company's yard.

"A division of Mother Nature Enterprises." Neemon said.

"Hey, some digimon." Takuya said as he spotted the insect like robot digimon walking in a line.

"Kokuwamon, machine digimon. When they feel threatened, they let out a million bolts of electrical charge. His special attack is Power Surge." Bokomon explained.

The lead Kokuwamon tripped making the others fall as sparks crackled around them as they groaned.

"Well, if there are that many digimon around, then there must be some food around here somewhere." Bokomon said.

"All right, then let's have us a feast." Takuya laughed as he ran off to the doors.

"But Takuya, hold on." JP said making the goggle head turn back.

"Why what's up?" Takuya asked.

"Listen Taky, as long as you're heading out to get some food, would ya mind bringing me an order to go with extra everything?" JP asked.

"What? I'm not the Pizzamon. It's every tummy for itself." Takuya said.

"Digimon first!" Veemon cried as he ran beside the goggle head.

"If he goes first then none of us will have any food." Dai commented.

Everyone else then ran after the dragon and goggle head, but as soon as they ran under the stone gates, the red lights on top started to wail and flash making them stop.

"Warning! Warning! A warning from Minomon!" a digimon cried as it swooped down.

"Hello there." Neemon greeted while Bokomon had his Book out.

"Are you not listening to me? I gave that 'warning' warning." Minomon said.

"They're larva digimon." Bokomon said.

"No trespassers allowed in the Wind Factory. No entry. Go home. Get out! If you don't obey my warning, we will convince our fierce attack." Minomon said as two more dropped down.

"You have now been warned. What we're trying to say is GET OUT!" they yelled.

"Now would be a real good time for me…" JP said.

"Uh huh?" Takuya asked.

"To wait in the car…if we had one." JP said as they both cowered back.

"Minomon aren't dangerous. They're only In-Training and can't even hurt a fly." Veemon explained.

Zoe nodded at this as she walked up with a smile.

"We're just here for a tour of the factory." She said.

The Minomon frowned as they huddled to talk things over and JP walked over to Zoe nervously.

"Let's make the first tour stop the exit door, OK?" he said.

"Come on down!" the Minomon cheered making Zoe grin while JP fell in shock from how easy that had been.

And so the humans were led into the building to have a tour, everyone exclaiming in awe at the inside as they saw the Kokuwamon working as they were monitored by these goblin digimon that gave off a bad vibe to the duo of Miracles.

"This is great. I love watching other people work." JP said.

"We're not the only ones watching. Goblinmon, this ogre like digimon loves being bad. His special attack is Goblin Strike." Bokomon said about the club carrying creatures.

"Are you enjoying your tour?" Minomon asked.

"Yeah." Zoe smiled.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked.

"Can we slide on this floor in our socks?" Neemon asked.

"If you feel you must, go ahead." Minomon said.

"Aw, I wish I had socks. Hey, Dai, can I borrow yours?" Veemon asked.

"No." she said making him pout.

JP then whined as his face had distress written on it and he crossed his legs as he wriggled around which made everyone look at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

"I really need to find a bathroom like right now!" JP cried as he ran off down the hallway.

"It's on your left!" Minomon sang after him.

"Geez, he could've held it." Takuya said, but then got his goggles snapped by Dai which made him yelp in discomfort.

Zoe giggled at that as Takuya glared at the girl.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Don't be too hard on him or you'll push him away." She said softly.

This confused him and he was beginning to wonder why JP always seemed to be walking closer to Dai nowadays as if they were friends.

Any time to 14 year old had to complain about something, Dai was listening to him and didn't snap at him at all.

What had happened between them?

"Hey, JP, hurry up! Did ya fall in?" Takuya called after a few minutes.

"I'm comin' already!" JP called as he ran back around the corner.

They continued on the tour to where there were large machines that moved things around.

"This is the backbone of Wind Factory. It's where all the latest, ultra high tech machines are made." Minomon said.

"Wow, cool." Tommy said.

"You call that an ultra, high tech machine? Please." Bokomon said as he saw what the largest machine in the middle was making.

"Fans?" Tommy asked.

"And an ugly one at that. I mean, grey is so out." Zoe commented.

That comment reminded Dai too much of Mimi because she was sure that the child of Sincerity would say the same thing.

"What's so high tech about a stupid fan?" JP asked.

"Hey, it beats a folded piece of paper! Now, before we get your some lovely parting gifts…are there any questions?" Minomon asked.

"Yeah, where is the cafeteria?" everyone asked.

(Later…)

In the cafeteria, the humans all groaned at the batteries that they were given, the Kokuwamon eating the same thing happily.

"So what exactly do you call this?" Zoe asked.

"Nine volt omelet?" Neemon suggested.

"Eat up everybody." Minomon sang.

"They are really lovely batteries, but…" Zoe trailed off.

"You'll love them. They're our special. Just look at the Kokuwamon. They can't get enough." Minomon said.

"But I wanted a cheese burger with large fries and a chocolate milkshake." Veemon whined as he poked the batteries.

Dai just slid her plate over to the Kokuwamon who gave her stunned looks, but happily took the offered food and Veemon pushed his plate over to them as well.

"Save room for dessert, it's alkaline." Minomon said.

"We can't eat this stuff." JP and Takuya said.

"Say, don't you have any sugary treats lying around, like for your special guests?" Tommy asked quietly as he snuck over to the larva.

"How about a double A pie?" Minomon asked.

"No thanks!" they yelled making Minomon cry out and run away.

(Outside…)

"I'm worried we might have offended the Minomon." Zoe said.

"More than that lunch offended us?" Takuya asked.

"Can we get back to worrying about my stomach?" JP asked as he, Neemon, Bokomon and Veemon sulked.

"Stupid batteries." Takuya growled as he kicked an old battery that was on the ground and it sailed through the air.

It hit the track and made the Goblinmon look over, Takuya smiling nervously at them as he rubbed his head.

"Hey, what's that?" Zoe asked as she saw them guarding a metal fence that had houses on the other side along with the Kokuwamon.

"It's a building with a fence around it. Is that an obvious answer?" Bokomon asked.

"Let's check it out." Takuya said.

They all ran to the other side away from the Goblinmon and went over to the Kokuwamon to see what was going on.

An aged Kokuwamon stepped up making them stop.

"So this…" Takuya trailed off.

"Is where the Kokuwamon live." Zoe finished.

"At least they're out in the sunshine." Neemon said.

"Yes, where they can sweat and rust." Bokomon quipped.

"You're kinda funny looking." One of the younger Kokuwamon said to JP and the kids giggled.

They all then went inside one of the brick houses to talk from the safety away from prying eyes and ears.

"Well, once there was there and there is now here. And now it's neither here nor there." The elder said.

"If I said that made any sense, I'd be lying." Zoe said.

"I'm lost too." Tommy said.

"Sorry, the elder's charge is a little low these days. Perhaps our story will make a little sense if we begin at the beginning. We Kokuwamon lived peacefully in the forest for generations. We played among the trees and had games of electric tag. Until one day, without warning, the Goblinmon attacked. Wind at the Wind Factory had gotten weaker and energy for the generator had gotten low, so their leader had us rounded up. They took us all from our beautiful, wooded home and put us to work in the factory." A younger Kokuwamon said.

"Here, not there." The elder said.

"Man, that just blows." Tommy said.

"Yeah and everything seemed so normal when we toured the factory." Zoe said.

"Bad digimon have to act normal so no one knows they're bad." Veemon said.

"I had a feeling something was wrong. My gut told me." JP said.

"Great, even your stomach's a know it all. So how come they needed your labor in such a modern factory?" Takuya asked.

"Our labor is more of a bonus for the Goblinmon. It is not the main reason that they keep us. You must understand, they would never let you outsiders see what really goes on there. We Kokuwamon are a timid and cowardly breed by nature. But when we're frightened, we emit electrical currents up to a million volts, so they scare us constantly. Sometimes they even pour water on us to short us out and then they use the electricity we give off on the factory or even worse. They threaten to hang us upside down so the charge rushes to our heads and if all of that doesn't work, they show us pictures of people's feet. I've gotten so jump these days I feel like there's a kangaroo in my pants." Kokuwamon said.

"So that was the noise I heard when I came out of the bathroom." JP said.

"Scary here." The elder said.

"We're in the factory every day. It isn't very much fun for us at all." Kokuwamon1 said.

"It's low pay and hard work." Kokuwamon2 said.

"And no vacation." Kokuwamon3 nodded.

"Can't go there." The elder said.

"Well, why don't you leave?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, when the going gets too tough, the really smart ones take off." JP said.

"Are you out of your mind? If they take off, then the Goblinmon will track them down and smash them into little pieces." Takuya said getting in his face.

"Let me guess, Taky, you got some bright idea they should band together and fight back?" JP sneered getting in his face, both boys glaring at each other.

"We're not really fighters and as for running away, we can't because the Goblinmon's security is just too tight." Kokuwamon1 said.

"Well, it seems like those are your only two options." Takuya said.

"I suppose if we had to choose we would prefer the running option." Kokuwamon1 said.

"If you run now then you'll never stop running, but if you fight them, then you'll be free forever. You don't have to do it alone. We'll help ya beat them." Takuya said.

"Hey, who died and made you decision guy anyway? What if we don't want any part of this, huh?" JP asked.

"I'm in." Zoe said as she and Tommy stood up.

"Yeah, when do we start?" Tommy asked.

"Excellent." Bokomon and Neemon said running over.

JP stubbornly turned his back on them all as the Kokuwamon all stood up.

"Right, let's do it." Kokuwamon1 said.

"This could be the most important moment of our lives." Kokuwamon2 said.

"However short they may be." Kokuwamon3 said.

"Here, here." The elder said.

"Something tells me those Goblinmon are gonna get the shock of their lives." Takuya said.

"Is everyone ready?" Zoe asked.

"Ready when you are." The Kokuwamon said.

"Yeah, ready to get ourselves killed." JP muttered as he paced around.

Takuya then got a map of the factory and everyone gathered around so that he could give the plan of attack.

"OK everyone, listen up. We're gonna do this tonight. First, Zoe, Dai and Veemon will cause a distraction right here. They are gonna try to get as many Goblinmon as possible over to the gate. That is, if you think you can handle it." Takuya said looking over to the girls and dragon.

"No sweat." Zoe said.

"That's the easy part." Dai said with her arms crossed.

"Then the rest of us will move into the factory and wait for the right moment to attack and when the signal comes, we all hit the same target. We destroy the assembly line and that's it. So what do ya say? Are ya with me?" Takuya asked.

"Affirmative!" the Kokuwamon said.

"Great, this is teamwork guys and a great plan; just like the ones I used to draw up for my army men, except this time it's for real. Pretty cool, huh?" Takuya chuckled.

"Yeah, pretty cool for you, Takuya." Zoe smirked.

"What's that mean?" the goggle head asked defensively.

"I get it. So if there's no place for them to work, I guess they'll get to go home again." Tommy said.

"It's not quite that simple, Tommy. We'll still have the Goblinmon leader to get rid of." Takuya said.

"I'm not going." JP said.

"What?" the other Warriors asked turning to him.

"Why don't you guys take care of this one and just holler if ya need me?" JP said with a bit of attitude.

"What are you saying, JP?" Takuya demanded.

"I'm saying that you guys are on your own. You don't need me. You probably don't even want me. I can't become a digimon like you guys. I'm just tall and sweet and cuddly." JP muttered at the end.

"Man, I will never understand what your problem is." Takuya said.

"My problem is you trying to make me do what I don't want to do." JP said.

"Oh yeah?" Takuya asked as they both looked away.

"You two loud mouths are gonna make the Kokuwamon cry." Bokomon said.

"We understand what JP is going through." Kokuwamon2 said.

"You see, before we met you, we never even dreamed of fighting back." Kokuwamon1 said.

"But you have given us hope and that is something we haven't had in a long time. And you have seen how strong we can be if we just believe in ourselves." Kokuwamon3 said.

"We believe." The elder said.

"You do?" Takuya asked.

"Believe in yourself. Like it's just that simple." JP muttered as he walked to the window and a younger Kokuwamon went over to watch him.

Dai then walked over to him, everyone watching her curiously as she placed a hand on his shoulder making him look over at her.

"You can still help out by taking the elder, the kids and woman off to a safe place." She said.

He thought about it and nodded, agreeing to the idea which made her smile.

"Wow, that was easy." Tommy said.

"I guess girls are just better at most stuff than boys." Zoe said.

(That night…)

"All right, it's go time." Takuya said.

"Go!" the Kokuwamon repeated as they started moving out.

"Are we ready?" Takuya asked.

"Ready!" the other Warriors said and then they split up to go their own ways to work.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

"KAZEMON!"

"KUMAMON!"

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon armour digivolve to…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

Raidramon ran off to the gates and used his Thunder Blast that destroyed the doors which made the sirens go off as the Minomon came down crying out 'Warning!' over and over again and then Kazemon ran up beside Dai and Raidramon.

"Go away you mouthy pinecones." She said making them flee as she then used her powers to make a mess of the place and to draw attention to herself and Raidramon focused on causing destruction and scaring the Minomon off since the duo of Miracles didn't want to hurt them.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." Kazemon taunted.

"Box them in and attack." Dai said.

"Got it." Raidramon said as he charged at a swarm of Goblinmon that came after them.

As they did this, Agunimon led Kumamon, Bokomon, Neemon and the Kokuwamon inside to take on the boss.

Raidramon started blasting lightning from his mouth to get the Goblinmon to run, then Kazemon flew in and blew them away with her Hurricane Wave.

"I hope we gave them enough time." Kazemon said as she floated near the duo of Miracles.

"Just keep it up until the place looks ready to blow." Dai instructed.

With that said, the team went back to work fighting off the Goblinmon, blowing them away or knocking them unconscious with their attacks.

They kept this up until the factory started to quake and then Agunimon started leading his group, along with a new blue and yellow beetle digimon, out.

"Hurry, the place is about to blow!" Agunimon said.

Bokomon and Neemon ran over to Raidramon and grabbed hold of his tail and the dragon shot off while the others either ran or flew to safety as the entire factory imploded on itself, the group watching from a safe distance.

"Something ya gotta love about the Digital World; you can blow things up and not get in trouble." Raidramon said making Dai laugh.

The Warriors all transformed back to human, revealing the new beetle to be JP who was smiling big at finally being a part of the team now that he could digivolve himself.

(In the morning…)

As soon as the sun rose, the rest of the kokuwamon came back to find the factory was now in shambles and the Goblinmon had ran away while their leader Snimon had been taken out by JP or Beetlemon: the Warrior of Thunder.

"Finally, there is here." The elder cheered.

"Our story has come full circle." Kokuwamon2 said.

"You can all go back to your real homes now." JP smiled at them as that same little Kokuwamon stepped up to him.

"I was right to believe in you." he said.

The wind then blew sand around as the Minomon were taken with it.

"Warning, warning! We're getting carried away here!" Minomon cried as everyone laughed.

"Now can we find some food? Please? Guys?" JP asked when no one answered and kept laughing or cheering.

(A few days later…)

The team had arrived to a digimon village that was bustling with life and everyone was starving, their stomachs all grumbling loudly.

"Man, I'm gonna die if I don't eat something soon,." JP whined.

"I'm so hungry." Tommy whined.

Zoe then looked back at the duo of Miracles to see Veemon being carried by Dai since he looked half dead.

"Hey, look at that. It's a restaurant!" Takuya said.

They all looked over and smiled as they started running towards it.

"We've saved!" JP cried.

Dai ran out in front of them and cut them off.

"You guys can't eat here." She stated.

"Huh?" they asked.

"Why not?" Tommy asked.

"Because the Digital World takes different type of money than the human world. If you try to pay with the money we have, we'll get thrown out or forced to work for our food. It's happened to humans before." Dai explained.

The Warriors all sulked at this new revelation, whining loudly at this and Tommy then looked over to Bokomon.

"Hey, Bokomon, do you think you can lend us some digimon money?" he asked.

Takuya and JP then perked up as they held their hands out with happy grins.

"Yeah, hand it over." They said.

Bokomon dug into his waist band for his pouch making the humans all smile and laugh happily.

"Big bucks." Zoe smiled with her hands clasped to her cheek.

Sadly, Bokomon held it upside down to show that only dust was inside of it and he was broke.

"As you can see, I'm without funds as well." He said making the humans all whine sadly.

"Now come on you nincompoops, follow me." Bokomon said as he started walking, but stopped making Neemon smack into him when he heard the loud wailing and whining.

"It's time to go." Bokomon said.

"That's not going." Neemon said.

All five humans and Veemon were sitting on the ground in misery from hunger and dehydration, refusing to go anywhere unless it was a forest filled with fruit trees and a lake of fresh water.

"We're still hungry." Zoe said.

"Yeah, we gotta eat something." Takuya said.

"Anything." Tommy said.

JP stopped wailing when he spotted a sign up ahead of them.

"Hey you guys. Take a look at that." He said pointing at the sign and everyone looked over at it.

"Heroes wanted. All your meals for free? Rock solid!" JP said.

That gave them energy to jump back to their feet.

"I'm brave enough to eat." Takuya cheered.

"Move outta my way, I'm coming, baby!" Veemon cried as he ran over to the booth.

The humans all followed the hyperactive dragon, the group trampling Bokomon and Neemon as they arrived in front of the booth with smiles.

"Hey there!" Takuya greeted, then everyone gasped as they saw three distressed snail digimon were there.

"We're heroes." Takuya said unsure making the snails perk up.

(Later on…)

A train whistle sounded near a tunnel making the humans and digimon stick their heads out of the bushes since they were hiding behind it in a mining car.

"There's the train." Takuya said.

"Duh." JP said.

"Shouldn't we hide?" Zoe asked as the train got closer.

They then ducked down from the bushes, hiding properly.

"I wish we knew what these guys wanted us to do." Takuya said.

"Relax; I'm sure they have a good plan." Zoe assured.

As she said this, the cart was pulled out of the bushes to reveal that the KaratsukiNumemon had tied the ropes from the cart to the train and it was going along the tracks now into the tunnel that had a few torches to light their way.

"I hope all their plans aren't as crazy as this one." Takuya said.

The Karatsukis then came over to them and started to tell them why they needed help.

"One day a mean creature named Grumblemon attacked. We're peaceful. We can't fight him by ourselves." KaratsukiNumemon1 said making Takuya nod in understanding.

"He demanded our mountain's Fractal Code and we told him we don't even know where it is but he thinks we're lying so that's why we need you heroes." KaratsukiNumemon2 said.

Trailmon gave off a loud sound as they came out of the tunnel.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of him, right guys?" Takuya asked.

"Right." Zoe said.

"I guess." Tommy said.

"Whatever." JP said.

"Boys, I'm not sure I understand this, why can't he just take the Fractal Code?" Zoe asked the snails.

"We already talked about this. As I said, the source of all energy in the Digital World is data. Everything; mountains, rivers, villages. Everything that is solid matter is made of energy so it has Fractal Code. Only in some places the Code is out in the open and in some places it's hidden. Try to remember that." Bokomon lectured.

"I'm afraid there's more of our story to tell. Grumblemon took all of our women to trade for the mountain's Fractal Code." KaratsukiNumemon1 said.

"That's horrible." Tommy said.

"Man, guys can sure be jerks sometimes. So that's why you wanted our help? To save your women?" Zoe asked.

"Yes." KarastsukiNumemon1 nodded.

"Just leave everything to us." JP said.

"We are in your dept. heroes." The snails bowed.

"All right, now about that chow…" JP said.

"Uh oh." Neemon whimpered.

"Hold on. You want us to ride through that in this?" Takuya asked.

Up ahead the tracks had turned into those that a rollercoaster would have with many loops and swerves.

"ARE YOU SNAILS INSANE?!" Takuya yelled as everyone screamed when the ride started.

Screaming was heard and echoed all around the area as the group held onto the cart or digimon and people inside so they didn't fall out through the different loops and such.

"At least this track is slowing down!" Takuya yelled when they went up hill.

"No, we're speeding up!" Tommy yelled back.

"How's this thing on the tracks?" Takuya asked.

"Actually, I don't think it is." KaratsukiNumemon1 said.

This made them all scream louder.

The cart then titled off the track and they all fell out as they lost their grip, grabbing hold of the wooden fence that was upside down on the mountain along with a village so the group wouldn't plummet to their death, Veemon clinging to JP's head while Takuya had his arm around Dai's waist and the other was on the fence.

"That wasn't so bad." Zoe said.

"What's your definition of bad?" JP asked.

"Falling off of this cliff." Zoe yelled.

"CLIFF?!" JP yelped.

"Come on heroes, what are you all waiting for?" KaratsukiNumemon1 asked.

"Are you kidding me?! Sticking to the side of a mountain may be easy for you guys, but one slip and we're gravel pancakes." JP said making them all look down at the death drop below them and whine nervously.

"Just how do you propose we get up to you? We can't cling to walls." Zoe called up to the snails.

A rope ladder was then tossed down to them, the snails holding the other end.

"Climb up you guys. It's fun." KaratsukiNumemon1 said.

"Oh, I'm learning a bunch of new definitions of." JP whined as Takuya started going up first.

"Come on." He said as Tommy and the digimon followed him up, JP then looking at the girls.

"Well, ladies first." He said.

Zoe then frowned making JP look at her curiously.

"I'm wearing a skirt." The blonde said making him look down and blanch since he had forgotten about that.

"No, wait, I-!" he started to defend himself.

"As if you didn't know. SICKO!" Zoe yelled slapping him and he yelled.

"Yeah, this is why I don't wear skirts." Dai sighed as she started up the ladder, then JP followed her and then Zoe went last.

"That's great." Takuya forced a smile as he went up.

"Huh? Who's that? Hey, wait!" Tommy called when he saw the shadow of a figure from the window that had the curtains closed.

"Yes!" Takuya cheered, but then yelped as he was hit over the head.

"OW! Hey, what the-? Huh, you're here?" he asked looking at his assailant.

Curious, everyone then climbed up and poked their heads, clinging to the sides of the door so they didn't fall off the cliff and saw someone they hadn't seen for a while holding a stick in his hands.

"You're the people these guys found to help out?" Koji asked.

"Koji." JP said.

"Yeah, none of us could find any food either." Takuya said.

"Hey, don't lump me in with you guys. These kids aren't going to be able to help you out at all." Koji said to the snails.

"I'll help you right upside the head." Takuya growled.

"Well, at least give us a chance." Tommy said.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I mean, look at you. The only thing you guys would do is get in my way. Can I help it if you're not up to my level?" Koji asked nonchalantly.

"Watch it stick boy or I'll-"Takuya was cut off.

"Gentlemen, please, my thanks to all of you for coming to help, and now it's time to eat." the snail looking digimon with a mustache told them.

"All right, time to chow down!" Takuya and the others cheered.

Everyone then cried out as they lost their grip and fell into the house, knocking Koji down with them.

"At least we'll have some yummy food to make us feel better." JP said.

(A few minutes later…)

They were given colorful cabbages to eat which stunned them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Takuya asked.

"I don't know. Looks like rabbit food." JP whined.

"Well, at least rabbits get to eat." Zoe said as she took a red cabbage to the boys' surprise.

"Here goes nothing." She then took a bite and smiled.

"Moto bono, dig in. Tastes like steak." She said confusing everyone as they took a cabbage and tried it too.

"Cheese burger, finally!" Veemon cheered.

"Salmon." Dai said.

"Mine tastes like chicken." JP said.

"Mine's like a potato." Tommy said.

"Mine's just like asparagus." Takuya said making everyone exclaim in disgust.

"I like asparagus." He pouted at them all, then looked over to Koji who was sitting alone in the corner.

"How'd he get here anyway?" Takuya asked.

"Oh, he fell from the sky." The leader said.

"He what?!" Takuya asked.

"He fell." The leader repeated.

(Later on…)

"Grumblemon has the captives in a cave. It's right about…here. We'll have to get in and out quickly." Koji said as everyone sat around the map of the mountain.

The Karatsukis all whined in despair.

"Just relax." JP smiled at them making the snails calm down and smiled.

"Have no fear; leave everything to us Legendary Warriors." He gloated making the snails cry out in fear and back away from the confused group.

"What's the matter?" Zoe asked.

"You mean all of you…are Legendary Warriors?" the leader asked.

"Yeah, in the flesh. Well, except for Dai here." Takuya smiled at the girl in black.

The snails all gathered around to talk which confused the group.

"Hey, what got them so worked up?" Tommy asked.

"Believe me; I had trouble believing you're Legendary Warriors too." Bokomon said.

"I bet they're in awe of us." JP said.

"Ah hem. It's time to go to bed." The leader said as all of the snails looked to be sweating as they gave nervous smiles.

"And I say it's time for us to rescue the girls." Takuya said standing.

"Uh, no, no. Get some rest first and then you can tackle the job in the morning." The leader insisted.

"Huh? Uh, OK." Takuya said.

"That's not suspicious in any way." Dai muttered.

(Later on that night…)

Dai was woken up by yelling and she pushed herself up from the ground on the pile of leaves that were used as a bed.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes and then looked around to find the room empty, even Veemon was gone.

"I really have a bad feeling about this." She said as the yelling came again and she ran over to the door and looked out to see her friends were all tied up on the side of a mountain.

"I don't understand. What's wrong with that?" Zoe asked.

"The time for your games and lies is over. Soon you'll be back with your ally." The leader said.

"Ally? What are you talking about?" Koji asked.

"Don't play dumb, we know you're in league with Grumblemon!" he yelled down at them.

"WHAT?" the Warriors cried.

When the KaratsukiNumemon finished his sentence, something blasted a hole in the side of the mountain.

"Give me fractal code, or bad things be happen." said whatever blasted the hole in the mountain side.

"Oh yeah, says who?" Takuya yelled.

"Be me, and you say me too, once you know who I am. You call me Grumblemon." it answered Takuya, revealing a troll-like creature with a large nose.

"Look at that symbol." Zoe told her friends, once she saw the mark on his armor.

"He's also a Legendary Warrior!" Takuya exclaimed in surprise.

"Give fractal code, or else, you no wanna see what or else see!" Grumblemon told the KaratsukiNumemon.

"I didn't realize there were bad Legendary Warriors." Bokomon stated from beside Neemon.

"Why for human yo-yo's?" Grumblemon asked.

"Grumblemon, if you want to save your allies, give us back our women now!" the KaratsukiNumemon demanded, bringing knives close to the ropes everyone was hanging from.

"Those knives are a little close there!" JP said in fright, causing everyone to look up and scream out in panic, all except for Koji.

"What so? Me no care what happen to weak human things." Grumblemon pointed at everyone as he said this, causing the KaratsukiNumemon to bring the knives closer to the ropes, causing everyone to panic, except for Koji, who looked like he was thinking.

"Wait, you mean you really don't care about them? But they're Legendary Warriors too!" the KaratsukiNumemon questioned Grumblemon, who was rubbing his nose.

"Huh, this weakling be Legendary Warriors? Me think somebody got their hands on some Spirits and took them when they shouldn't have. Now me put my hands on you and take them right back, so..." Grumblemon stated, taking a hammer out.

"Wait, what's going on here, you mean you aren't allies?" the KaratsukiNumemon asked in shock.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Tommy cried.

Grumblemon slammed the hammer against the mountain side, making everyone dodge it, but it still freaked all of them quake it made caused the snails to drop the knives and Koji took this as an advantage. He pushed himself off of the wall and his rope cut.

He started falling, then quickly pulled out his D-Tector.

"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" he yelled.

"LOBOMON!"

Lobomon grabbed his rope and then swung at Grumblemon, kicking him away and broke into the house where Dai was, the girl quickly moving before she got hit and screamed which made Veemon's head perk up.

"Was that-?" Zoe asked.

"Dai!" Takuya yelled.

Grumlbemon looked over to the girl and leered at her while she glared back at him, Lobomon looking between the two.

"Oh, what have here?" Grumblemon asked.

"Don't touch her! You're fight is with me." Lobomon said.

Grumblemon ignored him as he raised his hammer up on the girl, but then her D-3 whined loudly as it gave out a bright blue lights that blinded him.

Outside, everyone looked over to Veemon as he glowed blue which surprised them since they hadn't heard Dai say the trigger words.

"Veemon digivolve to…EXVEEMON!"

The dragon then snapped the ropes and flew off to the house, breaking in and punching Grumblemon away from his partner which surprised Lobomon.

"ExVeemon." Dai smiled as she stood up and walked to her dragon.

Kazemon and Kumamon then came in and looked at them while Grumblemon was outside fighting with Beetlemon and Agunimon.

"OK guys, here's the plan. While I'm fighting Grumblemon, you free the captives and get all the KaratsukiNumemon someplace safe. Got it?" Lobomon asked.

"You bet." Kumamon said as Kazemon nodded.

"Got it." ExVeemon said.

Kazemon and ExVeemon then picked up Kumamon and Dai, then flew off to the cave where they found the female KaratsukiNumemon locked up, all of them looking depressed and then surprised at the sight of the digimon and human.

"Ladies." Kumamon greeted.

Kazemon then used her Hurricane Wave to slice the cage bars open and the females all crawled out, smiling happily as they were met by the men who hugged them.

"Come on, we need to get to a safe point." Dai said sitting on her dragon's shoulders.

"Follow me." ExVeemon said as it started to rain.

He flew off while Kazemon and Kumamon flowed with the snails until they got to a mountain point that was far off from the fight where they would be safe and then flew back over as they saw Beetlemon slam his fist into the mountain to made a landslide and it hit Grumblemon, making him fall down.

"It was, wasn't it? But what about the captives?" Beetlemon asked as Kazemon flew over holding Kumamon.

"Over there." Kumamon pointed over to the mountain far off to where the snails were located.

"Boy, it sure must be nice to be back to your family. Hey, what's that?" Beetlemon said.

The eruption he caused had revealed the data that was hidden in the mountain making them all stare at it.

"It must be the mountain's Fractal Code." Kazemon said.

Grumblemon then poked out of the mountain where the Code was making them all gasp.

"Oh no, Grumblemon." Kazemon gasped.

"Oh, looks like I find what I want anyway." Grumblemon chuckled as he jumped out and landed on the ledge.

"Thank you. I'd never find without you. Now get rid you." he said as he held out a totem that made them all gasp since it was a Spirit.

"Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!"

"GIGASMON!"

Gigasmon then used his Quagmire Twister to hit the good Warriors, Kazemon and Beetlemon flying out of the way with ExVeemon but Kumamon was dropped while Lobomon and Agunimon were hit sending them falling.

"Hey, grab on to me." Kumamon said as he melted and then froze to a large icicle to the side of the mountain, the two Warriors grabbing on to him.

Beetlemon charged at Gigasmon, but was hit away and slammed into the mountain where Bokomon and Neemon were, the two Rookies falling but were caught by the winged Warriors.

"Phew, that was close." Bokomon said.

"Execute: Slide Evolution!"

"GRUMBLEMON!"

"That it? This what can do with your Spirit? You pathetic. Even make pathetic look good." Grumblemon said.

"Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!"

"You joke." Gigasmon said.

"Wait a minute, what's going on?" Agunimon asked.

"Rhino boy has two evolutions." Bokomon said.

"Now I take Fractal Code in name of Cherubimon." Gigasmon said as he then sucked the Code into his mouth making the mountain shake.

With the Code gone, the mountain fell apart and the group all got separated as they down different paths from each other as Gigasmon laughed.

To be continued…


	5. Odd One Out

"Odd One Out"

**Please enjoy and review!**

Zoe, JP, Bokomon, Neemon and Dai all cried out as they headed for a river, but ExVeemon used his body to lessen the fall as he landed with a large splash in the water on his back, everyone sitting on his chest and stomach.

"Oh, that's gonna leave a mark." He groaned.

"Nice catch." Zoe smiled.

"Huh? How's it morning already?" JP asked as he looked at the bright blue sky with the sun shining high.

"Is that really what you're worried about? We just got separated and were defeated by Gigasmon. That should be your main concern." Bokomon scolded.

"Who's Gigasmon?" Neemon asked making Bokomon scowl and snap his pants.

"What should we do now?" Zoe asked.

"Head to the Forest Terminal. It's where all of us need to go, so it makes sense for us to head there." Dai said.

"Right, that's where we'll be able to meet up with Takuya, Tommy and Koji." Zoe said.

Just then, ExVeemon was covered by a gold light.

"What's going on?" JP asked.

"I'm too weak. I didn't eat enough so I'm low on energy." ExVeemon groaned.

"Oh, no. We're all going to sink!" Bokomon cried making everyone yell while Dai looked around the area.

Her eyes fell on a tree that was high up and across the lake with a strong looking branch.

"Bokomon, do you have any rope?" she asked.

Everyone calmed down at this as Bokomon reached into his band and pulled out some rope and handed it over to the girl.

"What're ya gonna do?" JP asked.

Dai tied the rope into a lasso and then stood up as she swung the rope and then threw it, the lasso catching the branch and she pulled to make sure it was tight enough.

"OK, Zoe you go first and take Bokomon and Neemon with you. When you get to land, throw the rope back to me. JP will go after." She instructed as she handed the rope to the blonde girl.

Zoe looked bewildered, but did as she was told as the two Rookies clung to her as she swung over to the shore and then threw the rope back, Dai catching it and then handed it over to JP.

"Hurry and go." She said as ExVeemon started to shrink.

Nodding, JP jumped and gave a Tarzan yell as he swung over and nearly tripped over his feet when he landed.

ExVeemon grabbed hold of Dai's sweater as he shrunk and Dai caught the rope as the golden light made the dragon Veemon's size as the girl swung over and then landed with Demiveemon clinging to her sweater.

"Quick thinking back there. Wonderful job." Bokomon praised.

"Can we do that again?" Neemon asked.

"Hey, what happened to Veemon?" Zoe asked.

They all stared at the baby dragon as he was cradled in his partner's arms.

"This is Veemon. He must've lost too much energy and turned back into his In-Training form." Dai said.

"Demiveemon is his name. A baby dragon." Bokomon said.

"Oh, he's so adorable." Zoe gushed.

"I know." Demiveemon chirped with pink cheeks.

Turning, the group found that there was tall grass ahead of them that were surrounding a clear path and Bokomon took out his Book to look it over.

"Well, we might have to go through here to find the tracks." He said.

"Then let's get moving." Zoe said.

With that said, the group all walked off down the path as Bokomon hopped up on JP's head to get a better view of where they were going and still with his nose in the Book.

"The entrance to the Forest Kingdom should come up after this field." Bokomon said, beak in his book.

"Field? This is more like a jungle." Zoe said.

"To succeed one must have faith, one must stay positive-"Bokomon was cut off.

"Get off my head!" JP said.

"For a little guy, you weigh a ton." He said as the chicken looked down at him.

"Party pooper." Bokomon pouted as he then got down on the ground to walk with Neemon.

"Don't worry girls; I'm sure we'll find the way. Wanna know why?" JP asked trying to be brave for them.

"Why?" Zoe drawled, tired.

"Cause we're fighters that's why! We don't give up and we never quite!" he said determined while Dai and Demiveemon smiled at him.

(Five minutes later…)

"I give up! I quit!" JP said as he walked slouched over and panting.

"What happened to that 'fighting spirit'?" Zoe asked, sarcastically.

"It got hungry." JP stated making the duo of Miracles giggle at that.

"We'll take a break after we get out of this field, OK?" Zoe said.

"If I can...make it...that far." JP panted.

As they walked, JP tripped over a branch that was in front of him making them all stop and turn to him to see him on the ground.

"Now what? We don't have time to horse around." Zoe scolded sounding annoyed.

"You don't have to get mad. He didn't trip on purpose ya know." Dai said as once again the blonde did something to remind her of Yolei that annoyed her.

"Come on." Zoe said holding her hand out to JP.

He blushed a bit at the offer and was about to take her hand when an orange blur shot out in front of them making them gasp and stand back to see what it was.

"What in beaks name is that thing?" JP asked.

The digimon turned to them, his red eyes going wide in surprise at the sight of the humans.

"It's a Tsunomon." Dai said.

This made Demiveemon feel a bit depressed since he hadn't seen Gabumon in a while and missed his fellow digimon.

"Tsunomon, come back here at once young man!" someone called.

A giant cactus like digimon came out, freaking Zoe and JP out.

"I've had enough of your shenanigans for one day!"

"Hey, look, it's Togemon too." Demiveemon pointed as he crawled on top of Dai's head.

Togemon then noticed the humans and looked them over, then gasped in awe as her gloved hands went up to her mouth.

"My goodness gracious, what a lovely surprise! You're humans!" she said gleefully.

"Human beings?" Tsunomon asked in surprise.

(Later…)

"Hey, come on, let me go! I'm never going back to that nasty school!" Tsunomon yelled as Togemon held him by his horn.

"I didn't know that digimon kids go to school." Zoe said.

"That's where they learn the skills they need for a full grown digimon." Bokomon said as he was given a piggyback ride by Neemon.

"What skills do they learn? Jumping and eating?" JP asked.

"How exciting. I've never seen real live humans before. I know. Why don't you come to the school with us? I'm sure the children would love to meet you." Togemon said.

"Not me! I'd rather go home. I'd rather watch grass grow." Tsunomon yelled.

"We'd love to see the school, but I'm afraid we don't have time to stop and catch. You see, we're headed for the Forest Kingdom." Zoe said.

"This is an important mission, one that cannot be delayed." Bokomon said.

"You know; things to do, places to be. You understand." JP said.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd join us for afternoon snack time." Togemon said.

Zoe and Dai frowned as JP smiled big at the mention of food, Demiveemon doing the same as he started to drool.

"Afternoon snack time? Why didn't ya say so? We are there, lady." JP said eagerly.

"JP, could you not think with your stomach for once?" Zoe asked.

"Well, we could stay for a snack. Who knows when we'll get to eat again for a while?" Dai said.

Seeing the point in her words, Zoe sighed at this and nodded.

"Lead the way, Togemon!" Demiveemon cheered as he bounced around on Dai's head.

Togemon walked over to the tall yellow flowers and pushed them aside to view the wide open field that had the small cottage that was there with a play set from a playground.

"That's the digimon school over there." Togemon said.

"That's it? It looks like one of the houses the three little pigs built. I've seen garages bigger than that." JP said loudly.

"JP, keep your voice down." Zoe hissed quietly.

They then walked down to the school and all of the digimon came out smiling as they then started singing as a way to greet them.

"Welcome humans to our school

Where we learn and play all day

We think our teacher's really cool

So we hope you'll want to stay

Welcome humans to our school

Where we learn the digi rule

If you stay that would be cool." They sang.

The digimon were Yaamon, Jyarimon, YukimiBotamon, Nyaromon, Connomon, Kapurimon, Zurimon and Tsunomon, but the orange digimon wasn't singing.

"You are so cute." Zoe giggled as she kneeled down in front of YukimiBotamon.

Looking fearful and nervous, the Fresh gave off a blast of ice that froze Zoe's side that surprised her.

"YukimiBotamon, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times; don't ice the visitors! I'm so sorry." Togemon apologized s the ice melted.

"Oh, it's OK. Poor thing. Did I frighten you?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, just a little bit." YukimiBotamon said.

"Ha, I was all by myself when I ran into the humans and I wasn't scared, not even a little." Tsunomon gloated.

"Whatever." The other digimon said as they hopped away.

The scene reminded Dai far too much her own life with her old team and it made her feel weird to see that a digimon was living a similar life as her.

(1st Period…)

"Class, we're in for a real treat today. Instead of a regular old story, our human guests will tell us all about the wonders of the human world. Would you like that?" Togemon asked as they were inside the hut.

"Yes please!" the digimon all cheered.

"Perhaps the big blue human would like to go first." Togemon.

"Do ya mean me?" JP asked blushing.

"The name's JP. It's short for Junpei." He said.

"Very well Professor JP, the class is yours." Togemon said.

"Professor?" JP asked as his eyes bugged out.

"I'm no professor, I'm only in the eighth grade." He said.

"Oh, don't be so modest. Your class awaits Professor." Zoe teased as she gently nudged him with her elbow.

"Professor." Bokomon and Neemon teased.

"Professor." Dai and Demiveemon teased.

"Professor, professor, yay!" the digimon cheered.

Togemon stepped away while JP mechanically walked over to the front of the class, nervous about what to do or talk about.

"All right, just stay calm. How hard can this be? They're just a bunch of little kids. I mean, they're so little they don't even have feet. Here goes nothing." JP muttered to himself as he was given expectant looks from the babies.

"Uh. So, uh, the human world has a lot of cool things like, um, hankies to wipe your nose with if you had noses." He said as a clothes line with different colored hankies appeared between his hands.

Everyone groaned at what he had said, most even falling back in disbelief.

"And toothpaste that fights plaque. Awesome stuff." JP said as he made a clothes line of toothbrushes appear.

"These kids need leadership." Bokomon said as he jumped up on the stump in front of JP who sulked and walked back over to Zoe and Dai.

"Children, I am Bokomon. I am here to talk to all of you about the responsibilities of a young digimon. One day you will digivolve into a big, strong digimon like myself, you'll join the effort to restore the Digital World to its former glory. Like the Legendary Warriors of lore, we will prevail!" Bokomon said, but the babies ignored him and ran off to the humans and started talking to them all at once.

(Recess…)

Zoe went down on the slide with the twin digimon and YukimiBotamon while JP was playing with Kapurimon, Jyarimon, Yaamon and Nyaromon.

Dai was sitting with Demiveemon, watching this all go on while her dragon looked around until he spotted Tsunomon and smiled as he walked over to the sulking In-Training.

"Hey, Tsunomon!" he said making the orange digimon look over while Kapurimon also seemed to be paying attention now.

"What do you want?" Tsunomon asked.

"I wanted to see if ya wanted to play with me." Demiveemon said.

Tsunomon looked shocked about this as he gave a smile and nodded.

"No one wants to play with him." Kapurimon said.

"Yeah, he's not like the rest of us." Nyaromon said.

Demiveemon glared at them while Tsunomon's mood dropped drastically as Dai stood up and walked over, picking the orange digimon up which stunned everyone.

"How about instead of being jealous because we find Tsunomon more interesting than you, you guys shove off and cut the bully fest?" Dai suggested.

Everyone froze at those words especially as they saw how her eyes had flashed with power and authority before the girl grabbed Demiveemon and walked off with the two digimon.

When they were far enough away from the rude digimon, Dai set Tsunomon and Demiveemon down on the ground and smiled at them.

"Why did you help me out there?" Tsunomon asked.

"I know what it's like for my friends to turn on me like that and do things to hurt me. I don't care if it happens to me, but I won't let it happen to anyone else." Dai said.

His red eyes sparkled at how kind this human as being to him while Demiveemon nudged him playfully.

"I bet cha can't catch me!" he sang and then started running.

"Hey, wait for me!" Tsunomon called as he followed after the dragon.

Dai just smiled after them as they played together.

(2nd Period…)

It was now time for gym class, the digimon playing soccer while Togemon was the referee.

"I can't tell which is the ball and which is the kids." JP said.

"I'm open, pass it here, Kapurimon." Tsunomon called as he hopped near the raccoon who completely ignored him.

He went to make the kick himself, but Nyaromon easily blocked the goal and whipped the ball with his tail over to Tsunomon who smiled and went for the ball, only to get hit by Kapurimon who did it on purpose.

"What'd ya do that for?" Tsunomon demanded.

Kapurimon stared at him for a second before he burst into tears which were obviously fake, Dai quickly rushing over to Tsunomon and picked him up, gently rubbing at the red mark on his forehead that Kapurimon's helmet had made while the other digimon and Togemon all ran over to Kapurimon who was faking the tears.

"That's pathetic. Crying just so he won't get in trouble." Dai glared.

"I was the one who got hurt." Tsunomon whimpered.

"I know, they're all idiots. But believe me, I'm gonna be yelling at Togemon for her terrible teaching methods later." Dai said.

Demiveemon then climbed up onto her head.

"Or ya could do it right now." He said.

Dai then walked over to Zoe and JP, handing Tsunomon to the blonde girl.

"Take care of him." She said before she turned and went off to the cactus digimon.

"What's she going to do?" Zoe asked.

"Dai was bullied and hurt badly by the Digidestinds so she doesn't take too kindly to this type of stuff." JP confessed.

Zoe gasped as she then looked over at the girl who went over to Togemon and grabbed onto the large red boxing glove and started pulling the Champion away from the little brat of a raccoon.

"Wow, I can relate to her." Zoe said.

"Huh? Why? I thought you'd be the most popular girl in school." JP said confused.

"You'd be wrong." Zoe said as she thought back to her home life.

"I guess everyone thought I was upety cause I lived abroad." She said.

"Well, where did you live?" JP asked.

"Italy. My family lived since I was a little girl. We moved to Japan a year ago." She answered.

"Italy, huh? That sounds pretty cool." JP said.

"Tell that to my classmates. They just want me to act like them." Zoe said.

Dai had returned shortly after yelling at Togemon, who was a bit scared of the girl who radiated far too much power, and heard what Zoe had confessed.

"Well, then act like them. It can't hurt if you make friends, right?" JP asked.

"Yes it can. It'll hurt you." Dai said making them all look over at her.

"I've tried to act differently to make people like me, but it never worked. It's better to act like yourself and speak your mind then act like someone else and hurt yourself in the end." She said.

"Did the Digidestinds really hurt you that badly?" Zoe asked.

"They used me. I heard them say so many terrible things about me and how they constantly laughed at my faults behind my back. It hurt and finally I couldn't take it anymore. After the final battle, a digimon named Cherrymon came and tried to turn me against them, but I refused and with the help of Matt and Garurumon, we destroyed him and then I quit the Digidestinds. Matt and I never really got along because his brother and I never saw eye to eye and then my sister always stalked him. But in the end, it turned out that Matt was the only true friend I had. Those who inherit Friendship always suffer." Dai said.

Zoe and JP both smiled sadly at that.

"I wasn't popular back home either. I'd always use chocolate and do magic tricks to get people to like me, but it would only last for a few minutes before they all left me to do what they wanted alone or with someone else." JP said.

"I never had friends. There was this one girl who tried to be my friend, but then the other girls all back talked about me and made me think she was a part of them. I yelled at her and really hurt her." Zoe said.

"At least you guys knew those kids were never your friends. I didn't. For a year I listened to those who were supposed to be my friends say all of those awful things about me. How stupid I am, impulsive, pathetic and how TK should have been the leader and not me. Ken was supposed to be my best friend, but he eventually turned on me too. Kari, little miss perfect Princess of Light, was supposed to have been my friend, the first person to ever show me kindness when I was kid and I thought she was my friend, but I was wrong. I finally told them all how I felt and I left them crying, but I don't even know if they really feel bad or if they just cried because they felt guilty." Dai said.

"I guess all of us have trouble making friends. I mean, Tommy always gets bullied and Koji seems like a total loner so they must not have that many friends either." Zoe said.

"I think the only one of us who doesn't have such a sad life is Takuya." JP said.

"No goggle head has a terrible life. They have a younger sibling and wonderful parents who love him and he has a million friends. It's a total stereotype and I thought that maybe Takuya would be just like Tai at first since they have so much in common like the goggles, but after a month of knowing him, I know that Takuya is nothing like Tai and I'm happy about that." Dai said.

The three humans all looked over to the baby digimon who were still fussing over Kapurimon while Togemon was inside cooking up some food for them to eat and to recover from the tongue lashing she got from one fiery tempered human girl.

Bokomon, Neemon, Demiveemon and Tsunomon had been all but forgotten when the three humans had confessed about their sad lives to each other, strengthening their bonds of friendship while doing so.

(Lunchtime…)

Togemon was carrying a large bowl filled with dumplings in it and set it down.

"All right now everyone, you know the drill. Open wide!" Togemon sang.

The digimon all opened up their mouths while the humans behind them looked confused.

"Here they come." Togemon said as she tossed the dumplings into the air.

"Does that include us too?" JP asked.

"I guess." Zoe said.

Togemon then started using her Light Speed Jabbing on the food, punching them into the mouths of the digimon and humans, everyone doing their best to catch them to eat.

Noticing that Tsunomon wasn't eating, Demiveemon walked over to him.

"Hey, I was wondering, why don't the other digimon want to play with you?" he asked.

Tsunomon gasped at that and glared at him while he turned and hopped off.

"That's none of your business!" he yelled.

Dai, Zoe and JP were stunned by that and quickly ran after him, Demiveemon jumping up on his partner to follow and see what was wrong.

"Hey, wait up!" Dai called.

"What did I say wrong?" Demiveemon asked.

"Tsunomon, stop, please!" Zoe called.

"I just wanna be left alone! Leave me alone!" Tsunomon yelled.

"I don't get why he's acting this way. It was just a simple question." JP huffed.

They stopped in the forest and looked around for him, but couldn't see any orange in the greenery.

"Tsunomon!" Zoe called.

"Oh, come on, kid. Let us make it up to ya even if we don't know what we did wrong." JP panted.

There was then a yell and then the sound of splashing that caught the group's attention.

"It's Tsunomon." Zoe said.

"Yeah, he's over there." JP said.

Running over, they found Tsunomon had ran into a like and was trying to stay above the water so he didn't drown.

"I can't get out! Help me!" he yelled.

"Tsunomon." JP called.

"I'm coming." Zoe said as she ran back.

"What're ya gonna do?" JP asked her.

She didn't answer as she turned back and ran off, then took a leap and landed on the stump in the lake next to Tsunomon and reached her hand out to him.

"Hold on. Just a little more, I've almost got you." she said as he held still and she grabbed the tip of his horn.

"All right, Zoe." JP smiled.

"Atta girl!" Dai cheered as Demiveemon laughed.

As Zoe tried to pull Tsunomon out, she slipped on the wet wood and fell into the lake as well which shocked everyone as the girl and digimon sunk to the bottom.

"What do we do now? Think, Dai, think!" JP said as he took hold of the girl's shoulder and shook her.

"Snap out of it!" she yelled slapping him across the face and he calmed down.

Just then, a beam of light shot out of the water making them look over curiously as Zoe was lifted out of the water by a different digimon who wiggled his ears.

"AHHH! What is that thing?" JP yelled.

"Gabumon!" the duo of Miracles gasped.

"Gabumon is the Rookie form of Tsunomon. He digivolved!" Demiveemon smiled.

Gabumon set Zoe down on the ground and Dai quickly rushed over to the girl, checking her to see if she was breathing and then started to perform CPR until the blonde coughed up the water that got in her lungs.

Emerald eyes met chocolate as Zoe's vision became clear.

"What happened? Where's Tsunomon?" she asked.

"Here's right here. He digivolved to save you." Demiveemon said pointing to Gabumon.

"Oh. Dai, help me with these clothes please." Zoe said.

"Yeah, sure." Dai smiled.

The two girls then hid behind a large rock as Gabumon reverted back to Tsunomon, Zoe stripping off her clothing while Dai gave her, her black sweater to wear as the girls wrung the water out of the clothes and then hung them up to dry for a bit.

"OK boys, no peaking." Zoe said after her clothes were dry and she started dressing.

"Wow, I didn't know you could digivolve." JP said to the sulking Tsunomon.

"I sure wish I couldn't. It's been nothing but a royal pain in the neck." Tsunomon said.

"Aw, come on, you don't really mean that." JP said.

"Yes I do. You see, one day when my friends and I were playing, our ball got caught in a tree. To help them out, I digivolved and then got the ball for them, but they were all scared of me after." Tsunomon said.

"I wasn't afraid. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't digivolved and pulled me out of the water. You saved my life. Thanks Tsunomon." Zoe smiled as she walked out from behin the boulder fully dressed.

He looked surprised at this while Demiveemon walked over to him.

"Yeah and besides, my best friend is a Gabumon. Both of us can digivolve to our Champion forms. Gabumon can even go to Mega and I'm not scared of him." The dragon said.

"All right, now let's get back to the school." Dai said.

"Yeah, maybe there will be more snacks." JP said.

A drop of water landed on his nose as storm clouds rolled in and thunder boomed above them.

"Oh, perfect and I just got my clothes all dry." Zoe whined.

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed making JP yelp and hold his hands over his ears.

"Are you kidding? You use electric attacks all the time. You can't be afraid of lightning." Zoe said.

"I'm different when I'm a digimon. Haven't you figured that out yet?" JP asked as thunder crashed making him cry out again.

"Really, JP, just when I thought you couldn't get any more corky." Zoe sighed.

"This isn't good. I gotta get back to school." Tsunomon said making everyone look at him as he hopped off.

"Whoa, Tsunomon. Hey, what's the big hurry?" Zoe asked.

Following him, they saw that the river had risen from its original size which surprised them.

"The water's so high." Zoe said.

"No kidding." JP said.

"This much water can't be any good." Dai said.

"Miss Togemon said when it rained this hard before the water overflowed and flooded the school. If it doesn't stop, we'll all be washed away." Tsunomon said.

"Yeah, I knew something bad was gonna happen." Dai sighed.

"JP, we've got to do something." Zoe said.

"Let's Spirit Evolve. We'll get to them faster if we fly then we can use our combined strengths to try and save the school from the flood waters." JP said determined.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Demiveemon said.

"Good plan, JP." Zoe nodded and smiled.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"BEETLEMON!"

"KAZEMON!"

"You digivolved. Awesome." Tsunomon said with wide eyes.

The two Warriors then picked up Dai and the two In-Trainings, flying off to the school to see everyone was on top of the school as the water was rising and was going to be coming to them soon.

"Here you go, kid." Beetlemon said as he set Tsunomon down.

"Thanks a lot Beetlemon." Tsunomon smiled.

Kazemon then set down the duo of Miracles who watched them.

"We have to avert the water with something big like one of those rocks. If we work together, we should be able to save the school." Beetlemon said.

"Why JP, you're pretty brave when ya wanna be." Kazemon said.

"Uh, thanks." Beetlemon gave a nervous chuckle.

"Let's move it." Kazemon yelled as the water fell down over the cliff to fill the valley.

Beetlemon used his Thunder Fist to make a crater around a large boulder as the water came rushing over and he lifted the boulder up.

"All right, let's rock." He said.

"I can't believe that JP and Beetlemon are the same person. He was scared before and now he's not afraid of anything." Tsunomon said.

"That's what happens when ya digivolve." Demiveemon said.

"So tell me, where would ya like this?" Beetlemon asked.

"How about a little to the left." Kazemon said.

"You've got it." Beetlemon said as he placed the boulder down as the water hit, then split up to not hit the school.

"Hey, Z, a little help." He called.

"At your service." Kazemon said as she used her Hurricane Wave to blow the water away.

"They did it!" the baby digimon cheered.

"Excellent work." Bokomon said.

Kapurimon then slipped on the wet roof and went falling into the water much to everyone's surprise.

"Kapurimon, no!" Togemon cried.

Kapurimon screamed as he called out for help and then came over to a tree, so he used his tail to wrap around it to save himself.

"Kapurimon, please, just hang on, dear. I'm coming!" Togemon called as she went to dive in, but Bokomon grabbed her glove.

"Togemon, don't do it. You'll be swept away. The current's just too strong." He said.

"But Kapurimon!" Togemon said.

"Demiveemon?" Dai asked.

"I can't digivolved to Champion. I'm still too weak." The dragon said.

"Tsunomon, go get him! You're the only one who can do it." Beetlemon cried.

"I can't." Tsunomon said.

"You saved me. You can do the same for Kapurimon." Kazemon called.

Tsunomon looked nervously around the digimon who had all shunned him for his ability to digivolve and was unsure of what to do.

Just then, a log came down in the water and was heading towards Kapurimon.

"Someone help!" Kapurimon cried.

"Tsunomon, listen to me. If they can't like you for who you are, then they're not worth it, but you can't let Kapurimon die." Dai said.

"Tsunomon!" Beetlemon cried.

"You can do it!" Kazemon called.

"I can't hold on!" Kapurimon screamed.

"Tsunomon!" Kazemon, Beetlemon and Dai said.

Determination filling his eyes, he jumped into the air.

"Tsunomon digivolve to…GABUMON!"

Gabumon ran over to the boulder and used his Blue Blaster to shoot himself over to the water and used his horn to break the log before it could hit Kapurimon.

"It's OK, Kapurimon. I'll get cha back to safety in no time." Gabumon smiled.

"Thanks, Tsunomon. Thanks so much." Kapurimon said in gratitude.

Gabumon grabbed him and brought him to safety as the storm soon let up and the sun shone through the clouds to dry the valley.

Once everyone was safe and got down on the ground, Dai and Demiveemon hugged Gabumon while the digimon all gathered around him.

"Teach me to digivolve." Yaamon said.

Tsunomon, you were terrific." Connomon said.

"Really? You really think so?" Gabumon asked.

"Is that really you?" Jyarimon asked.

"I don't scare you anymore?" Gabumon asked.

"Not a bit." YukimiBotamon said.

"You were really awesome." Nyaromon said.

"Sorry for being scared of you." YukimiBotamon said.

"Aw, shucks, guys." Gabumon said.

"Gabumon." Kapurimon called making him look over.

"Thank you for saving me. I can't wait for the time I can digivolve too. I hope I'm as cool as you are." He smiled.

"Kapurimon, you're making me blush." Gabumon said looking away with a blush while the girls giggled.

(Later on…)

JP, Zoe, Dai, Bokomon, Demiveemon and Neemon all stared in awe at the sight of the boat that had been made for them by the digimon.

"We made this boat for you in crafts class. We hope it'll help you." Togemon said.

"Thank you madam. We'll get to the Forest Kingdom in no time." Bokomon said.

"And I won't have to carry you." Neemon said.

They then climbed in and smiled at their new friends.

"It was nice meeting all of you." Zoe said.

"Hey, Tsunomon, you're not afraid of digivolving anymore, are ya buddy?" JP asked.

"Nope, I'm gonna keep on digivolving. One day I'll be as strong as the Legendary Warriors." Tsunomon said.

"That's our boy." Dai winked at him.

"Actually, Zoe and JP are two of the Legen-"

Bokomon was cut off by Zoe and JP grabbing him and covering him beak, both laughing nervously.

"Bokomon." Zoe hissed.

"Zip it would ya?" JP hissed next.

The sail then caught the wind that was blowing and the boat started to move down the grass lands.

"Thanks for everything you guys." Zoe said as Neemon waved at them.

"It was our pleasure." Togemon said.

The babies all called after them while the group waved goodbye to their friends.

"I'm flying like a mighty fruit bat." Bokomon laughed as he stood up at the front of the boat.

"This feels just great." Zoe said.

"Yeah, it's nice to get a ride rather than walking." Dai said.

"No kidding." Demiveemon yawned as he curled up on her lap.

"Yeah. You know, I'm sure glad those kids changed their minds about Tsunomon." JP said.

"You wanna know what else?" Zoe asked.

"Uh, sure Zoe." JP said confused.

"I think I changed my mind about you a little too." Zoe said.

"Really?" JP asked excited.

"Just a little." Zoe giggled.

"I changed my mind about you guys too. I like ya a lot more than I did before." Dai confessed.

The three humans all smiled at each other while there was the sound of a plane which made them look up to see the plane along with three figures with parachutes that had jumped out.

"Oh, our comrades have returned." Bokomon pointed.

Takuya, Tommy and Koji all landed in the boat safely, the others smiling at them.

"About time you guys got here." Dai teased which stunned Takuya as he looked at her.

"Hey, what's up with you? You seem…happier than usual." He said.

"You mean back to myself." Dai said.

Zoe giggled as she came over and hugged the girl who didn't push her away and just relaxed into it which shocked Takuya.

Since when were they so close to each other?

To be continued…


	6. Welcome to My Nightmare

"Welcome to my Nightmare"

**Here is the next chapter. Sorry for not updating my stories for a while. Please enjoy and enjoy!**

Standing in the middle of the forest and staring up at the Trailmon as it drove by on a bridge that was high up and far away from them were the new Digidestineds.

"I believe the Forest Kingdom begins beyond that track." Bokomon said.

"Sure looks big." Takuya said.

"Hey, Bokomon, how much father do we have to walk to the Forest Terminal?" JP asked.

"Don't worry; you should only have to walk a little bit more." Bokomon said.

"A little bit more? These little bits are killing me." JP whined while Koji huffed as he looked at the sky to see where the sun was.

"Try not to whine so much. Walking isn't our biggest problem." Dai said as she started walking.

"And what would be our biggest problem?" JP asked.

"Evil digimon who work for Cherubimon hunting us down or hungry digimon trying to gobble us up." Demiveemon said as he hopped up on Dai's head.

"That doesn't sound good." Tommy whimpered as the group started walking, Takuya rushing to be beside the duo of Miracles.

"I hate to sound mean, but you need to suck it up. Being scared is fine, but not all of the time. This place is dangerous and you need to face that fact." Dai said.

"Ah, Dai!" Takuya scolded.

"What? It's the truth. Kids younger than Tommy have been here before us and fought evil digimon who tried to kill them." Dai said.

"Let me guess; the Prince of Hope and Princess of Light?" Zoe asked sneering the names with distain.

JP scoffed while Koji, Takuya and Tommy were all confused as they saw the disgust and hatred at the names of these two people being spoken by the digimon, Zoe, JP and Dai.

"Yep. Anyway, I'm not going to baby Tommy just because he's younger than us. We're all in the same amount of danger as him. All of us are equals here." Dai said turning back to Takuya.

"Unlike your old group were the stupid Prince and Princess were the important ones who always had to fight the Darkness. Geez, give me a break. Talk about being full of yourself." JP muttered.

"So disappointing when the Chosen Children fall because of their pride." Bokomon sighed sadly.

Koji was confused by what was going on, but he had to admit that he agreed with the girl who had tried to save him.

She was right about how Tommy shouldn't be spared from the truth just because he was younger, which was what he had tried to tell Takuya who was just intent on fighting him during their time on the island.

"I wonder what happened to make them all so close." Tommy mused.

"I don't know." Takuya shrugged.

This bothered him because he had tried for a month to learn about Dai's old life and yet she had told Zoe and JP after spending only one day alone with them.

What had happened?

"Come on, let's get moving. The sun will set soon." Koji said as he walked off ahead of them, the others following after him.

(Hours later…)

"Wait up!" Takuya called to Koji who was running down the hill ahead of the group.

JP and Tommy were far off behind them, both looking very tired and hungry as they stopped walking which made the others turn to them.

"Man, isn't it time for a dinner break? I'm wastin' away here." JP said.

"We didn't even get any breakfast yet." Tommy pointed out.

"I think we better stop here and make camp." Takuya said.

"It's been a long day for all of us." Zoe said.

"Yeah, whatever." Koji said.

"So we're stopping?" Tommy asked happily.

"Does that mean I get to eat? And lay down? And eat? Yes!" JP cheered.

Demiveemon gasped when he sensed something and looked up to the trees to find whatever it was that was spying on them, but couldn't see anything.

"Look what I found. I hope it's editable." Zoe said holding up a pale green apple.

"It's called a meat apple." Bokomon said.

"Meat apple?" the others asked.

"Yes, each one has the flavour of different meat. Quite nutritious actually." Bokomon smiled.

"Where'd ya find that thing?" Takuya asked pointing at the apple.

"It was just lying on the ground. There has to be a tree somewhere nearby. Bokomon, will you help me find some more?" Zoe asked as she began to run off to look for the tree and the chicken started to follow her.

"Certainly." He said.

"Can I come?" Neemon asked making Bokomon pause and grab the bunny's pants and started dragging him off.

"Oh, all right." He sighed.

"Goodie, I love meat apples!" Neemon said.

"Well bully for you." Bokomon muttered and Tommy started to follow them too.

"Wait for me!" the little boy yelled.

"Well I guess we better gather some fire wood." Takuya said as he grabbed Dai's hand and started pulling her off with him.

"I'm not gonna have to lift anything heavy am I?" JP asked.

"Get to work, JP!" Dai called.

"Fine." He groaned.

Koji sighed as he walked off to go find some sticks, leaves and logs to use for a fire and JP followed to help as Takuya pulled Dai along with him to talk.

Takuya didn't let go of Dai which made her give him a curious look as he pulled her behind a tree to speak with her.

"What haven't you been telling me about your past and why did you tell JP and Zoe?" he asked.

She gave him a surprised look, but then remembered that he never liked beating around the bush.

"It's a long story, Takuya." Dai said.

"Then tell me. We're friends, I want to know things about your life, but I can't help you when you keep secrets from me." he said.

Demiveemon noticed that they were holding hands, so he jumped down and ran off, only to find Koji was hiding behind a tree with his arms filled with short logs to use in the fire.

"I didn't tell you because you wouldn't understand what I went through." Dai said.

"Oh, and JP and Zoe do?" Takuya asked.

Truth be told, he was jealous over the fact that she trusted them with her secrets more than him.

He really cared about her and wanted to be there for her to help her out.

Dai sighed at this and shook her head.

"Takuya, you don't know what it's like to be left alone and hurt by your friends and family. They do which is why I told them." She said.

Koji's eyes widened at this while Demiveemon climbed up onto his shoulder and gestured with his paw for him to keep quiet as they listened in, the boy nodding.

"What do you mean?" Takuya asked confused.

"The Digidestineds used my power to defeat evil and then left me. They all bullied me verbally and constantly called me stupid and yelled at me for making the smallest mistake. Zoe and JP understand what it's like to be the outcasts and being bullied. The only remaining Digidestined that stayed by my side is Matt, but that's because he understood what I was going through since he was hurt once before too." Dai explained.

Takuya's eyes were wide as he heard this all, seeing the pain in her eyes making it obvious that she was telling the truth to him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was at a lost since he was confused out of his mind of how to deal with this situation.

Dai looked off to the side and licked her lips since she knew he would be unsure of what to do here.

Giving a grin, she gently tapped his cheek with the palm of her hand making him look into her eyes.

"This is why I didn't tell you. You have no idea how to deal with this stuff. I have Matt to talk to about this stuff, now I have JP and Zoe because they all understand. Compared to us, you have the perfect life. Parents who love you, a younger brother who looks up to you. Not all of us have that. Just don't freak over this." She said.

Takuya placed his hand over her own and gave a small smile.

"I'll try not, but you need to be honest with me from now on, OK?" he asked.

"OK." She agreed.

Koji then snuck away.

(That night)

Takuya and Koji were working on the fire while everyone else were sitting away from them sticking the meat apples on sticks.

"Apple, you're my best friend." JP said as he then took a bite, but his face turned blue as he looked like he had eaten something sour and spat it out.

"Disgusting!" he said.

"You don't eat them raw, you know." Bokomon said with an amused look as Neemon sat beside him with the same look JP had since he had also began eating one.

"Why didn't you say that before?" the bunny asked making Bokomon sighed in aggravation.

They were an interesting pair.

"So what were you and Takuya talking about?" Zoe asked Dai.

"Oh, I just told him about why we're getting along better now." Dai said.

"Hmm, it seems like you two are getting closer." The blonde teased.

"Meaning what?" Dai asked curiously.

"Oh, you know, I think he kinda likes you." Zoe said.

When Dai's face lit up bright red, Zoe couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up now, but when you fall for a guy, know now that I will be teasing you about it." the mahogany haired girl warned.

"JP, what are they talking about?" Tommy asked.

"I'll never understand girls." JP sighed.

"I'll never understand humans or why girls make boys act so crazy." Demiveemon said.

"The fire's ready, bring your apples." Bokomon said as they all looked over to see the fire had roared to life.

Everyone got up and ran over to the fire, but Tommy paused as he heard something rustling in the trees and looked up before he ignored it and ran over to the others.

The group all set their apples near the fire so that they could cook, then sat back to relax and watch.

"Hey, Bokomon, anything in your book about a Beast Spirit?" Takuya asked.

"I haven't seen anything." The chicken said.

"If it's not too much trouble, could ya take another look?" Takuya asked.

"Certainly." Bokomon said as he pulled out the book and began flipping through the pages.

"I'm afraid I still don't see anything." He said as Neemon began touching one of the pages, rubbing at it.

"Paws off, baggy!" Bokomon snapped at him.

"But I think I found something. This page seems to be folded over. Maybe there's other stuff inside." Neemon said and Bokomon checked to see that he was right.

"Oh, it's a miracle, you're actually right. This changes everything. It seems there are two Spirits for each of the Legendary Warriors." Bokomon said making everyone gasp.

"The first is the Human Spirit like Agunimon, then the second is called the Beast Spirit. That explains where Gigasmon came from, but how did he summon the Beast Spirit?" Bokomon asked.

"I wonder what life would be like as a beastie." Neemon said.

"Let's feed you to one and you can find out from the inside. Don't you realise; this means the children may have the power to Spirit Evolve again?" Bokomon said frowning at the bunny.

"Well then, if Bokomon's right, each of us should be able to get a Beast Spirit." Koji said.

"But if that's true, then we're only half way there." Zoe said making JP groan.

"Oh man, it's like starting over." He said.

"Yeah, but think. With the Beast Spirits, we'll be strong enough to take on Cherubimon." Demiveemon said as he got pumped up by the idea.

"And we'll be able to kick Gigasmon's butt to get some payback for throwing us off the mountain." Dai said.

"Yeah, maybe we can." Tommy said with a smile.

"Well, I'm willing to give it a try. Beast Spirit Evolution, here we go!" Takuya said pumping a fist with a smile.

"Yeah!" everyone cheered while Neemon poked Bokomon, repeating his name until he got slapped.

"Is this a good idea?" Neemon asked.

"What's the matter with you? We have to help you find your Beast Spirits as soon as possible; after all, it may be the only way to save the Digital World. We haven't even made it to the Forest Terminal; we're running out of time. These Beast Spirits must be our number one priority." Bokomon said.

"Nope, not good." Neemon said.

"What is not good?" Bokomon asked glaring at the bunny, who then pointed at the fire.

"The meat apples, while you're talking, they're burning up." Neemon said making everyone look to the apples to see that they were glowing red around the skin.

Everyone then yelled out as they grabbed at their apples, trying to save them before they burned and were uneatable.

"Mines like a meat bun." JP said.

"This one tastes almost like a chicken drumstick." Tommy said.

"I've got steak over here." Dai said.

"I think I'm eating prime rib." Takuya said.

"Yeah, gingered pork." Koji said.

"Mines osubuko!" Zoe cheered falling on her back.

Suddenly, thunder boomed as storm clouds rolled in to hide the three moons that were shining in the sky and the stars.

"Hey, you're blocking the view." JP complained as they were covered in darkness except for the fire.

"Something is happening." Tommy said.

Looking off into the forest, the group all saw the trees had some sort of screen on them that were showing images of different places on it, such as an airport, mountains, towers and tall buildings.

"Wow, a TV." Tommy said.

Everyone stood up and walked over to check them out, standing in the middle of the forest to look them over.

"A bunch of 'em." Takuya said.

"That is pretty sweet." Said Koji.

"Whoa, tree TV. I hope it isn't all travel channels. I wonder if we can get music videos." JP said excited.

"Hey, wait a minute. That's our world. Those scenes are from back home." Zoe realized.

"That's right, Zoe. It's called the TV Forest, a video gateway to the Human World." Bokomon read from the Book.

"Now that's really weird." Koji stated.

"It's my school. It never looked so pretty to me. Oh, look, the cherry tree's blooming." Zoe said as she touched the screen of her school.

"_You've got a boy_

_You've got a girl_

_Sitting there underneath the tree_

_They sit there every day…"_

"I love cherries. You know, come to think of it, I love pretty much every kind of food. By the way, is this pre-recorded?" JP asked.

"_And even though_

_You may think_

_This isn't what it's meant to be…"_

"Does anyone else hear that music playing?" Koji asked.

Everyone looked around and listened to the guitar music playing, the drums and the male voice singing.

"Hey, yeah. I can hear it." Takuya said.

"I wonder where it's coming from." Tommy said.

Dai listened closely because she knew that song and that voice.

"It sounds like…Matt." She said.

"Matt?" JP asked.

"Dai, look over here!" Demiveemon called.

Looking over to the tree that Demiveemon was at, the group all ran over to him and saw that he was at a tree that had a group of boys playing instruments and singing as lights flashed all around them, dressed in jackets.

"Who are they?" Tommy asked.

"It's the Teenage Wolves! They're Matt's band." Demiveemon said.

"Matt, as in the Digidestined of Friendship and your friend? That same Matt?" Zoe asked Dai who nodded.

"You didn't tell us he was in a band." JP said.

"I didn't think it was important." Dai shrugged.

"_You can't take nothing for granted_

_You gotta live life today_

_I turn around and I can see what's behind me_

_And I turn back around and I can see what's ahead_

_And if you don't believe I'll be here all along_

_Just turn around_

_Just turn around…"_ Matt sang.

"Ah, he's so dreamy." Zoe sighed while Dai laughed.

Tommy then spotted something on one of the trees and walked over to it to see what it was and his eyes became wide as he recognized it.

"That's the park where my mom would always take me to play." Tommy said as the screen then swerved to a woman that was looking around the park sadly.

"My mother!" he said making everyone gasp and run over to him.

"For serious?" JP asked.

"You weren't kidding. Your mother's very pretty, Tommy." Zoe said.

"Oh, Mom." Tommy said with tears in his eyes.

Just then, the clouds were moving away from the moons and the light was returning to the forest, so the TV's were fading way.

"Wait, where are you going? Don't leave me! Please! MOMMA!" Tommy cried as the woman's image faded away.

Dai suddenly gasped when he turned around and ran right into her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sobbing as she just stared at him unsure of what to do.

Takuya saw this and walked over, kneeling down to pat the boy's back to provide comfort.

(Later on…)

Everyone was sitting around the fire looking depressed about what they had seen, Tommy's sobbing over his mother making everyone miss their own families.

Well, except for Dai, but that was because she was never really wanted in her family, so the only one she really missed at that moment was Matt who had come to be an older brother figure for her.

"I bet my mom is really worried about me." Zoe said sadly.

Tommy was sitting between Dai and Takuya, still sniffling while the goggle head smiled and held out an apple for him.

"Cheer up little buddy. Go on, try my apple. It's hot dog." He said.

Zoe looked back and smiled at this.

"Tommy could be your little brother." she said as Tommy took the apple and tried to stop the tears.

Something then flew above them, making the wind whistle, Takuya and the duo of Miracles looking up at the sky to see what it was.

"Hey Koji, are you falling asleep?" Takuya asked turning his attention to the lone wolf who was leaning against a tree.

"Sleep? Tch. I'm lucky I'm not bored to death." Koji said as he looked away with his arms crossed.

"Hey, bub, what's your problem? He needs a nap." JP frowned.

"He's just grumpy. Hey, JP, maybe Tommy would like to see ya do some of your magic." Zoe suggested as she walked over.

"Magic? Since when?" Takuya asked.

"Since I was a kid myself." JP said.

Dai then covered her mouth as she let out a yawn.

"You guys do that, I'm gonna go sleep now." She said standing up.

"Night!" Takuya called as she set Demiveemon on his head.

JP then started getting ready as Dai walked over to the tree behind them and lay down, trying to find the right position to sleep in and then let the sound of her friends' voices lull her to sleep.

(Later on into the night…)

After everyone had settled down to sleep, Tommy was whimpering as he kept having nightmares, his whimpering getting louder as they woke everyone up.

"Tommy, what is it?" Zoe asked as he woke up and stood up as he put his hat on.

"I won't forgive you. I won't forgive you." He kept repeating in a trance.

"There's something wrong with him." Takuya said as he, JP and Zoe stood in front of the Warrior of Ice.

"Hey, half pint, snap out of it." JP called as Tommy rose the stick that still had a red glowing tip in a stance like someone that was about to swing a baseball bat.

"Tommy, stop that right now!" Zoe said worried.

"I will not forgive!" Tommy growled.

"Now cut it out! This isn't funny, Tommy!" Takuya yelled.

"He looks possessed." Demiveemon noted as he saw the glazed over eyes that Tommy said.

"I will never forgive any of you!" Tommy yelled as he then went to attack Zoe, but she quickly jumped back as Koji stood in front of her protectively.

"Knock it off." Koji ordered.

Tommy then threw the stick down then pulled out his D-Tector which put everyone on edge.

"You're going to pay for what you did to me." he warned.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"KUMAMON!"

The bear's voice was raspy as he went through the evolution and lost the gentleness and playful attitude he usually had as he then froze the ground under his feet.

"That's one angry bear." Takuya said.

"Kumamon!" JP said as he and the others all backed up away from the advancing bear.

"I'm tired of you bullying me." Kumamon said as he used his Crystal Breeze on them, making them jump away from the wind that would turn them into popsicles.

Instead, it hit a tree and it broke in half.

"He's gone completely crazy." Takuya said as he and the others hid behind some trees as Kumamon stalked over to them.

"I'm really sorry, Tommy." JP said.

"Justice will be served. Crystal Breeze!" Kumamon said as he blew the icy winds at them, hitting one of the trees.

"I guess sorry wasn't the magic word!" JP yelled as he ran.

Zoe was about to get hit by the falling tree, but Takuya jumped in and saved her, the two rolling away.

"Hey, how come Takuya gets to fall with Zoe?" JP asked jealous.

"Run, you jerk!" Koji yelled as Kumamon appeared and went to attack them again, but they dodged it and then gathered as a group.

"Looks like the only choice we have is to Spirit Evolve and take him out." JP said.

"I will never forgive you." Kumamon said as he stared down at them with cold eyes.

"Spirit Evolve? I won't do it. There has to be another way to stop him." Takuya said refusing to hurt Tommy.

"Right." Zoe nodded.

"Sorry, JP, I'm with them." Koji said.

"Fine, well, what do you propose?" JP asked.

"How about we find whatever did this to him, take it out and then Tommy will be back to normal?" Dai suggested.

"Run!" Koji yelled as Kumamon blasted ice at them again making them all rush out of the way so they weren't frozen.

"Come on Zoe, take my hand, I'll protect you!" JP said as he looked back at Zoe who was staring at Kumamon as they ran.

Sadly, JP tripped over a tree root and fell down, Zoe not paying attention and stepping on his back and then quickly hopped off as he grunted in pain.

"Sorry." She said.

"I'm good." He groaned.

Koji, Takuya and Dai were hiding behind trees as they stared at Kumamon who was walking towards them.

Just then, something flew past the three making them look over curiously.

"What was that?" Koji asked.

"I know I definitely heard something that time." Takuya said.

"It must be the one responsible for Tommy's freak out." Dai said.

"Right." Koji said as he pulled his D-Tector out and flipped it as it gave off a bright light.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"LOBOMON!"

"Wait a minute; I thought we all agreed not to Spirit Evolve? Who does he think he is anyway? Sometimes I hate him." JP complained.

"Koji must have a good reason. Maybe he knows something that we don't." Zoe said trying to defend the Warrior of Light for his actions.

Lobomon then pulled out his Lobo Kendo and called forth his Ancient Spirit of Light that shone all over the forest much to everyone's amazement as Takuya then spotted the troublemaker.

"There he is!" he called making Dai look over.

"Hey, wait, isn't that a…Oh, it's a ghost digimon. No wonder we're having trouble. Tapirmon must've used his Nightmare Syndrome on Tommy. I don't why, but almost all ghost digimon have that power." Dai said.

"Right. You stay here; I don't want you to get hurt." Takuya said placing a hand on her shoulder before he ran off and pulled out his D-Tector.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

"OK, now something is definitely wrong." Zoe said as she saw the Warrior of Flame was there now too.

"All I know is they broke the agreement and we have to protect Tommy." JP said.

"Lobomon, don't you harm a hair on that bear, OK?" Zoe called.

"I don't think we have to worry about Lobomon doing any damage." Dai said.

Kumamon then melted and then became a large icicle that went to stab Lobomon, but he stopped him with his Lobo Kendo and then threw him off, the icicle turning back into Kumamon.

"Kumamon, this has to stop." Lobomon said.

"Rotten little wart hog!" Agunimon yelled.

Everyone turned to see him riding Tapirmon as he tried to buck Agunimon off of him.

"What is he riding?" Zoe asked.

"Whoa, piggy!" Agunimon cried as he was thrown off.

"Tapirmon, he's a ghost digimon and is the one who is causing problems around here." Dai said as she ran over to Zoe and JP.

"Come back here you flying pork pie!" Agunimon yelled as he ran after the flying digimon while Bokomon and Neemon poked their heads out of a bush, Demiveemon sitting on top of Neemon's head.

"He looked pretty nasty for a Tapirmon. Aren't they supposed to eat bad dreams?" Neemon asked.

"And give good ones too." Demiveemon added in.

"You saps! Did it occur to you that Cherubimon may have turned him evil?" Bokomon scolded.

"But how?" Neemon asked.

"I have no idea." Bokomon said as he pulled out the Book and saw the problem.

"Ah, he's supposed to be wearing his Power Ring, but apparently Cherubimon has taken it away." He read.

Agunimon ran at Tapirmon who charged at him and hit him with Nightmare Syndrome, the violet cloud trapping the Warrior of Flame inside as the nightmare began.

What he was seeing was his own friends going against him and attacking him, but he then remembered who they truly were and shook the nightmare off as he realized that Tommy was having the same nightmare…and that Dai had lived it.

"It's only a dream. Tapirmon has convinced him that we're his enemies." Agunimon said as soon as the violet cloud was gone.

"Oh no!" Zoe gasped as Kumamon had LObomon backed up against a tree.

"Stop, Tommy!" Lobomon called out.

"My name is Kumamon and you are nothing but a big bully." He said as he pulled out his Blizzard Blaster.

"No, you're wrong." The Warrior of Light said as he held up his Lobo Kendo.

"Kumamon, you're under the spell of Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome. It isn't real. You have to fight it!" Agunimon yelled as he ran over.

Kumamon looked over to him feeling conflicted as the spell was slowly starting to break.

Agunimon then growled as he slammed his fists together.

"Takuya!" Zoe yelled.

"Wait, don't do it!" JP cried.

"You really think he's gonna attack Tommy?" Dai deadpanned making them look at her.

"Uh, yeah?" JP said.

"Look again." Dai said pointing to the real target as flames swirled around Agunimon's arms.

"It's time to end this nightmare." He said as he then threw the flames at Tapirmon, hitting him and sending him back as his Code showed.

"Now for some purification. Fractal Code: Digitize!" Agunimon said as he took the Code and returned Tapirmon back to normal.

Tommy then returned to normal as well and looked confused as he saw the Warrior of Light standing right in front of him.

"Lobomon, wow, have you been fighting somebody?" he asked.

"It's good to have you back, Tommy." Lobomon said as Zoe ran over with a relieved smile.

"Tommy, don't you remember? You just had a terrible nightmare." She said.

"Huh?" Tommy asked looking over to the others as Tapirmon floated behind Bokomon, Neemon and Demiveemon looking very sheepish and embarrassed.

"That's right. You gave us quite a scare there young man. Tapirmon's dream made you think we were your enemies." Bokomon said.

"Yeah, but it was actually Cherubimon's fault." JP explained.

"Bakemon's better now. He didn't know what he was doing at the time." Neemon said.

"I'm sorry. From now on, I promise I'll only send you good dreams." Tapirmon said.

"Aw, mm-kay. So I had an adventure and I don't even remember it." Tommy said as he scratched the back of his head with a smile.

"It's good ya don't." Zoe smiled.

Afterwards, everyone started to walk back to the camp site since they had run off away from it during the attack.

"Thanks, Koji. I'm sorry I didn't believe in you. I owe you one." Takuya said.

"You don't owe me anything. Besides, you're the one who sensed something back there." Koji said.

"Huh?" Takuya asked.

"I always heard that savages rely on intuition." Koji said.

"You really hate being nice, don't cha?'" Takuya asked with a frown.

The two boys then shared a smile and then bumped fists.

"I'm not sure I'll ever understand them." JP said.

"Let's just say it's the start of a beautiful friendship." Dai said.

They all went to camp and lay down around the campfire as Tapirmon blew pink dust on them.

"Sweet dreams, children." He sighed.

Off to the side was Koji leaning up against the same tree.

"Now that is the way to sleep." Koji smiled as he watched the others all sleeping peacefully and then Tapirmon flew off.

His D-Tector then beeped making him grab it to hear what the new message was.

"Your Beast Spirit awaits, Koji Minamoto." The woman said as he stood up in shock.

Bokomon, Neemon, Dai and Demiveemon were all awoken by the sound and turned to look at Koji as the woman spoke to him again.

"But first, you have some growing to do." She said.

Koji had a look of surprise and confusion on his face since he didn't understand what this woman meant, but he was determined to find out what.

To be continued…


	7. Can't Keep a Grumblemon Down

"Can't Keep a Grumblemon Down"

**Please enjoy and review!**

"Remind me again why you're following me." Koji said as he walked off down the forest path with Dai and Demiveemon following him.

"Because that message was weird. Besides, you don't know if you'll meet up with Grumblemon again." Dai said.

"I can handle him just fine." Koji said.

"But what about Gigasmon? He beat all of us last time and wasn't very nice about it." Demiveemon pointed out from on top of Dai's head.

Koji frowned at this as he remembered what had happened a few nights ago, but shook it off before he got mad about it.

They came to a pond and Koji bent down to take a drink while Dai just sat down to relax as Demiveemon looked around when he heard talking or more like arguing.

Koji pulled out his D-Tector as the woman's words from last night came back to him, Lobomon's face on the screen.

"It's driving me crazy. Who sent this e-mail?" he asked.

"Quit worrying about it. We'll find out sooner or later." Dai said.

He just hummed at that when they heard the familiar sound of an elastic band being snapped and then whining which made them look over to find Bokomon and Neemon were there, the bunny jumping around after his pants were snapped.

"Do I jiggle around when I dance?" Neemon asked.

They then looked over at the duo of Miracles and Warrior of Light who scowled as he stood up and grabbed Dai's wrist, hauling her to her feet and started running into the tall grass.

"Stop following me." Koji called.

"Quickly now, follow them." Bokomon said as he dragged Neemon with him.

As the two humans ran, they came out of the grass and gasped as they nearly went over the edge of a cliff that was ten feet high.

"That's a nasty drop." Demiveemon squealed as he held onto Dai's head.

"OK, we're heading back." Dai said as she started to pull Koji back.

"I don't see them." Neemon's voice came making them stop.

"Oh, for Pete's sake, your eyes are closed." Bokomon said.

Just then, the two digimon jumped through the grass and clung to Koji making him tip over while Dai held onto the boy to try and keep him from falling over the edge.

"Let go of me!" Koji said trying to get the digimon off, but he just fell over the side making the five of them cry out as they went over.

They landed in the grass and then rolled over until they came to a stop on top of a rock digimon.

"Why is it every time we're together one of us is always attacked by a digimon making us both fall to our near deaths?" Dai groaned as she rubbed her sore head.

She then looked over to see Koji having a stare down with the digimon they landed on, the two then yelping in shock and jumping away from each other.

"What is that?" Neemon asked.

"A Gotsumon. They're living rocks, but they're basically kids and can be real troublemakers, let me tell you." Bokomon explained.

"What do you want?" Koji asked as Dai stood up next to him.

"Nothing, so what do you guys want?" Gotsumon retorted.

"Nothing, why do you care?" Koji asked turning to the side.

It was silent then as Neemon, Bokomon, Dai and Demiveemon looked between the stubborn Gotsumon and Koji.

"Well, if you're not going to ask, I will. Can you tell us how to get to Forest Terminal?" Bokomon asked.

"Yeah, I could tell ya, but I'm not gonna." Gotsumon chuckled as he ran off making the group gap in disbelief at him.

"Follow him, come on now. Chop chop." Bokomon said.

"Don't tell me what to do." Koji said as he started chasing after Gotsumon while Dai followed.

"But he knows something." Bokomon whined.

They kept chasing after Gotsumon, the tall grass making it hard as it smacked them in their faces or other body parts.

As they spotted a large boulder, they found Gotsumon climbing up on top of it and he disappeared from view.

"Come on." Koji said leading the group over.

"He couldn't have gone far." He said as they looked around the boulder.

"I can still smell him." Demiveemon said as he looked around.

"Look, we know you're here." Bokomon said.

"Kinda." Neemon said.

"Look kid, we're not going anywhere, OK? Just come out." Koji called.

Beside them, Gotsumon turned off his cloaking power and returned to normal as he looked at the group.

"Oh, OK, I'm still not gonna tell ya anything." He said.

"You are just a little brat. I don't think I've ever seen such a disrespectful digimon." Bokomon frowned.

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Gotsumon asked.

"Ugh, you guys are giving me a headache." Dai groaned.

Suddenly, the earth rumbled catching their attention as Gotsumon climbed up to stand on top of the boulder as they saw the mountains far off from them beginning to crumble and have their data get sucked up by something.

As a crowd of Gotsumon started running after their homes were destroyed, Grumblemon walked out of the debris and laughed.

"Where is Spirit?" he asked.

"It's Grumblemon." Koji exclaimed as Demiveemon gave an 'Eep!' and hid in Dai's hood.

"No!" Gotsumon yelled as he jumped down and started to run off to help.

"Hey, just where do you think you're going?" Koji asked.

"It's not safe. Grumblemon is too strong." Dai said.

"He can't get away with this. I won't let him." Gotsumon sniffled as he tried not to show his tears to the group.

"You crazy? You can't fight that guy. Leave him to me." Koji said.

"To you?" Gotsumon asked turning to Koji with tears in his yellow eyes.

Koji climbed up on top of the boulder as he held his D-Tector while Neemon and Bokomon jumped off of him and stood beside him.

"Yeah, just watch this." Koji grinned as his D-Tector beeped and the mark of Light glowed.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"LOBOMON!"

Lobomon stood there on the boulder, the sunlight shining down on him as his scarf blew in the wind making everyone stare in awe at him before he jumped off over to where Grumblemon was to battle him.

"He turned into a digimon. And not just any digimon, a Legendary Warrior. Maybe's there's hope yet." Gotsumon said.

Bokomon and Neemon jumped onto Dai's shoulder next.

"Quickly now, go after him." The chicken said.

"You're lucky I'm nice or else I'd toss ya somewhere." Dai said as she ran after the Warrior of Light.

"Grumblemon." Lobomon called as he landed behind the evil Warrior who had just absorbed more data.

Dai was hiding behind a tree where she could watch and be safe from the dangers, the digimon all clinging to her as they stared out at the two Warriors.

"It you. That good. I have been looking for you." Grumblemon smirked as he rubbed his nose.

"So what?" Lobomon asked.

"You get away once before, but if I defeat and get Spirit, Cherubimon be grateful to Grumblemon." Grumblemon said as he was covered in data.

"Slide Evolution: GIGASMON!"

Gigasmon jumped up as Lobomon pulled out his Lobo Kendos to fight and spun them around as Gigasmon came down and slammed down onto the weapon.

It created a huge impact which tore up the ground making Dai and the digimon cry out as they tried to brace themselves, the ground being lifted up and moving around from the powerful blow as Gotsumon ran by Dai towards the fight.

"You're going to get squashed!" Bokomon called.

Gotsumon was leaping over the moving lands looking for Lobomon until he spotted the unconscious Warrior.

"I'm gonna save him." He said and then moved out.

Gigasmon was looking around for Lobomon's location, not even noticing what Gotsumon was doing.

"Hey, get up." Gotsumon said as he tried to wake Lobomon up.

Behind him, he noticed a red gem fall down into one of the large craters.

"Huh? It's the jewel! If I can just get that jewel, I can release the Spirit. As if I could." Gotsumon said.

"Where you at?" Gigasmon called.

"Aha, there you are." He said looking back and spotted Lobomon and Gotsumon.

Gotsumon whined as he realized that he had to do the right thing and leaned over Lobomon, using his camouflage powers to blend into the landscape so they weren't seen.

"You no hide." Gigasmon said as he jumped away when he couldn't see them.

When he was far enough away, Gotsumon brought his camouflage down and moved off of Lobomon who woke up just as Dai jumped over the broken up lands and made it over to them.

"Thanks." Lobomon said.

"Don't thank me till we're out of here." Gotsumon said as he got up and started running.

"Can't we wait a minute?" Lobomon asked.

"You wanna wait for him to find us?" Dai asked jabbing her thumb in Gigasmon's direction.

"You in for much pain when I find!" Gigasmon called as he looked around in the opposite direction.

"Heh, I'd beat you to it." Lobomon said.

Rolling her eyes, Dai grabbed his metal wolf ear and started pulling making him stand up and follow her while Gotsumon watched curiously.

Humans were such strange creatures to him.

(Later on…)

They had moved off to an underground home where the Gotsumon were all hiding from Gigasmon, everyone looking scared or upset from their homes being destroyed.

Koji was leaning against the wall as he held his side, Bokomon and Neemon flanking him to check on him while Dai was beside him with Demiveemon on her head.

"Is there anything we can do?" Bokomon asked.

"No." Koji said.

"This'll make you feel better." A Gotsumon said as he tossed a clam shell that had an ointment inside onto the table that was made out of stone in front of the group.

"I don't need anyone's help." Koji said.

"Yeah, I can tell. You did such a great job yourself." Gotsumon quipped as he turned his back on the group.

"So? You can't do better." Koji frowned.

"I will. I'll be a hero. And I won't need any help like you do." Gotsumon said as he moved the boulder blocking the exit, the sunlight shining down on the humans and their digimon friends.

"No, you'll just make Grumblemon angry with us." Another Gotsumon said as he and another grabbed his arms.

"He's right. Don't make trouble for the rest of us." One of them said.

"Let go!" Gotsumon yelled smacking their hands away.

"Look kid, you just don't stand a chance." Koji said.

"Yeah, maybe I don't, but I can't do any worse than you. I know that for sure. Some Legendary Warrior. And the rest of you are no better." Gotsumon scoffed as he then ran out.

"Well, there he goes. Off to save the world on his own." Gotsumon1 said.

"Crazy kid's got rocks in his head. If you ask me, that Gotsumon's gonna get us all destroyed." Gotsumon2 said.

"There's no hope for us now unless he really does find the Spirit." Gotsumon1 said.

"Say what now?" Dai asked perking up.

"The Spirit? If Grumblemon gets that, I'll never stop him." Koji gasped.

This earned him a light smack over the head by the female.

"It's more serious than that. He'll continue tearing this place apart until it's destroyed and then he'll move on to our world." Dai said.

His eyes widened at that.

"Digimon in the Human World?" he asked.

"She's right. You saw me in the Human World. Others have gone there, even giant evil ones. Didn't you hear about monsters appearing around the world on the TV?" Demiveemon asked.

"I thought that was just some gimmick to promote a movie or something. I didn't think it was real." Koji said.

"Oh, it be real." Dai said making him frown at her.

"Please don't talk like that. You sound like Grumblemon." He stated making her gap in outrage.

She just stuck her tongue out at him.

(Elsewhere…)

Bokomon and Neemon were looking over the three large statues that were the size of buildings, two having a red gem in them as the eye while the middle one was empty and had a marking on it.

"They said there's an inscription, but I don't see it." Bokomon said.

"Abrakahoosits." Neemon said hoping it would do something.

"Oh, wait, I got it. Open sesame!" Demiveemon said.

"But that's the same mark as Lobomon's." Bokomon said as Koji started playing around with his D-Tector to see if it would pick up a trace of the Spirit like last time.

"I wonder if that means Koji's Beast Spirit is here somewhere, yes?" Bokomon said.

"Possibly." Dai said as she and the digimon looked at Koji.

"Sure. What are you doing now?" Neemon asked the boy.

"The D-Tector can sense Spirits. How can you possibly live here and not know these things?" Bokomon asked.

"I'm not a D-Tector am I?" Neemon asked making Bokomon sigh.

"Anything?" the chicken asked.

"Not yet." Koji said.

Roaring filled the air making the group gasp and look over to where the sound came from and saw a huge dust cloud coming up from where the trees and long grass was.

"Uh oh, not Gigasmon again." Koji said.

"Maybe he's fighting Takuya and the others." Bokomon said.

"Come on, let's go." Koji said as he started moving.

"Wait, what about the Spirit?" Bokomon asked.

"Later." Koji said.

Beeping filled the air as Dai's D-3 went off and lights covered Demiveemon.

"Demiveemon digivolve too…VEEMON!"

"Let's get there fast." He said.

"Right." Dai nodded as she held her D-3.

"DIGI ARMOUR ENERGIZE!"

"Veemon armour digivolve to…Raidramon: the Storm of Friendship!"

Dai hopped up onto his back and then held her hand out towards Koji.

"Hurry up, we need to move it." she said.

Nodding, Koji grabbed her hand and was pulled up while Bokomon and Neemon grabbed Raidramon's tail, trying to pull themselves up as well.

Once Koji was behind her and grabbed onto one of the dragon's spikes, Dai nodded.

"Go for it." she said.

"Right." Raidramon said.

He then shot off, the two digimon still on his tail crying out at the intense speed that the dragon was going at.

They made it in time to see Kazemon get her Spirit stolen by Gigasmon and then Agunimon and Beetlemon went to attack, only to have Gigasmon revert back to Grumblemon and whack them down with his hammers.

"Oh no." Dai gasped softly.

"That's it. This guy is gonna get it." Koji said as he jumped off of the dragon and quickly Spirit Evolved.

"More tasty Spirits for me." Grumblemon said.

Before Grumblemon could go after Takuya and JP, Lobomon jumped above him and prepared to shoot him.

"Why don't you taste this first?" Lobomon asked as he blasted him.

Grumblemon was knocked down, then Lobomon jumped down and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"How'd you like that?" the wolf asked.

"Not too bad." Grumblemon smirked.

"What's the matter? Don't you want my Spirit anymore?" Lobomon asked.

"Still got couple tricks up sleeve." Grumblemon said as he somehow pulled out his hammers and went to slam them on Lobomon who leaned back.

"Now here's some magic for you." Lobomon said as he lifted his foot up and kicked the Warrior of Earth down and then ran off.

"You pay for that." Grumblemon growled as data surrounded him.

"Slide Evolution: GIGASMON!"

Gigasmon then shot off after Lobomon who was leading him away from the others.

"You running away good. Me see how good at fighting." Gigasmon said as he started punching at the ground, trying to level the earth and hit Lobomon.

Zoe was sitting on the ground staring sadly at her D-Tector as JP and Tommy sat around her and Takuya held his arm and stared after Lobomon.

"He's gone now. You OK?" JP asked.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just…what good am I to you guys now?" Zoe asked.

Raidramon then jumped over to them making them all look up to see Dai on his back while Bokomon and Neemon were still clinging to the dragon's tail.

"You guys OK?" Dai asked.

"Define OK." JP said.

"Dai, why did you disappear with Koji last night?" Takuya asked running up to her.

He had been worried sick when he woke up and found the girl missing along with the lone wolf and he was worried about the fact that Koji might not bother to look after her.

And he was a little jealous that she had gone after him.

"Because it isn't safe to be separated. I thought it would be better if we were in groups." Dai responded.

"Hurry up now. We must catch up to Lobomon and Gigasmon." Bokomon said.

"Why would do that?" Neemon asked.

Tommy was helped up onto Raidramon and sat in front of Dai while Takuya sat behind Dai, then it was Zoe and last it was JP.

"Hang on tight guys." Raidramon warned.

He then took off again making Zoe and JP yelp since they weren't use to this speed.

They made it to see Gotsumon using his Rock Fist on Gigasmon, but he was still getting pounded on by the Beast while Koji was inserting a jewel into the third statue.

"Gotsumon!" Dai called in worry.

Raidramon then used his Thunder Blast on Gigasmon making him turn away from Gotsumon.

Once the jewel was inside, the ground started to shake making everyone look around in confusion as a pillar of light shot up from the top of the statues.

"I hope this is something good." Bokomon said.

"Don't we all." Neemon said.

The statues then turned towards the Beast of Earth while Gotsumon ran off to safety.

"That not good." Gigasmon yelped.

The jewels that were made as the statues' eyes then glowed as they shot out red beams that hit Gigasmon and then the ground under him.

"Koji!" Takuya called.

Some of the other Gotsumon ran over to see the ground crack and open up to reveal a white wolf totem that looked to be sitting and howling at the sky.

"Spirit." Koji spoke as his D-Tector glowed with the same light.

"Koji, your D-Tector." Bokomon called.

"Oh boy." Neemon said.

"It's…it's your Best Spirit." Bokomon gasped.

Koji stood up as he stared in awe at the Beast Spirit, its eyes glowing with a white fog that also filled Koji's eyes.

"Beast Spirit!" Koji called as he held out his D-Tector.

"Me not afraid of Beast Spirit." Gigasmon smirked.

He then gasped as the Beast Spirit floated over to Koji.

"I did it!" Gotsumon smiled at finding the Beast Spirit.

As the Beast Spirit went inside of Koji's D-Tector, a transparent image of the large metal wolf pouncing at him before it faded.

"Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!"

"KENDOGARURUMON!"

Light shone around the wolf as he howled to the sky, his gold metal wings shining from the light as his blue stripes stood out against his white body.

"Kendo…Garurumon?" Dai asked as Bokomon moved to sit on her head and pulled out his Book.

"KendoGarurumon: the Beast of Light." He said.

"KendoGaruwho?" Neemon asked as he stood on Raidramon's head.

"Garurumon!" Bokomon frowned as he reached over and snapped the bunny's pants.

Everyone, human and digimon, exclaimed in awe at the wolf as he just stood there with his gold eyes looking them over.

"Why'd he find his first?" Takuya asked.

"I could've done that." JP said.

"Hey there. Nice doggy. Sit." Gigasmon said as the wolf stared him down, his eyes clouded over by a white fog.

"I hope he can beat Gigasmon." Gotsumon said as the light show died down.

KendoGarurumon then roared as the wheels attached to his ankles lowered to the ground and started skidding on the ground as his wings extended and he continued to roar.

To everyone's surprise, he then rammed into the side of a statue.

"Ouchie." Neemon winced.

"Oh no. Koji can't control the Beast Spirit yet." Bokomon realized.

KendoGarurumon continued to roar and ram into the statues that were around him as he tried to fight the primal instincts that were kicking in from the Beast's power.

"Look like things not so bad for me after all." Gigsmon said as he ran at KendoGarurumon who saw him.

"You should know not take what not control." Gigasmn said.

Roaring in outrage at him, KendoGarurumon then ran at Gigasmon while everyone watched in worry, the Gotsumon ducking down for cover from the large blast that would come from the impact of the two Beasts.

"Now this will be big." Bokomon said as he then dived down into Dai's sweater while Neemon jumped into her arms.

Then, the two Beasts struck each other making a large blast erupt around them and the cliff where they were fighting started to crumble, the statues falling into the ocean below.

"Koji!" Takuya called.

Gigasmon was crying out as he fell down with the rocks and debris into the ocean, but the Digidestineds couldn't see their friend.

"KOJI!" Tommy cried out.

Thankfully, a golden clawed paw appeared over the ledge of the cliff and KendoGarurumon lifted himself up, roaring in victory before he was covered in data and became an exhausted Koji.

"That Spirit…sure takes…a lot out of a guy." He sighed before he started to fall back into the ocean below.

Before he did thought, Gotsumon grabbed his hand making him look up at the Rookie.

"I guess to be a hero; I needed your help after all. And you needed mine to be one too. Maybe asking for help is what makes you a hero. Of course, having a Beast Spirit doesn't hurt either." Gotsumon said making Koji smile.

"Can I come up now?" he asked.

"Oh, right, sorry." Gotsumon chuckled as he pulled Koji back up onto the cliff.

"No problem. You gotta work on your hero skills. Rescue first, talk later." Koji joked.

The others all smiled in relief at this.

To be continued…


	8. A Hunka Hunka BurningGreymon

"A Hunka Hunka BurningGreymon"

**Please enjoy and review!**

"Isn't it nice to have a moment of peace and quiet?" Bokomon asked.

"Let's have some fun and play charades." Neemon suggested.

"I thought you said fun." Bokomon rolled his eyes.

The group were all sitting down in the forest to rest up and figure out a plan from what had happened the other day.

Three Tanemon popped out of the ground near them giggling gleefully.

"I've always wanted to try that thing where I'm trapped in an imaginary box." Neemon said, then smiled as a Tanemon hopped over to him so he started bouncing her up and down on his hand.

"If only the box were real." Bokomon groaned.

"Oh man, I really messed up." Tommy looked down sadly as he thought back to how Zoe had to save him and got her Spirit taken away.

"It's OK Tommy. What happened wasn't your fault." Zoe smiled over at the boy.

"Well, the next time I see that guy, I'll get your Spirit back even if I have to do it by myself." JP said determined.

"Why would you want to do something like that?" Neemon asked.

"Based on your last encounter, I don't think that'd be very wise." Bokomon pointed out.

JP then slammed his hand on the ground making the two digimon jump at the sound and yelp at how close he was to hitting them.

"So what? It sure beats sitting around here doing nothing. She needs my help." JP said.

"You have a one track mind, buddy. We can't just run out and fight. We have to get to the Forest Terminal." Takuya stood up.

"So what? Then we just let him win?" JP asked as he stood up too.

"I can't just sit back and let Grumblemon run around with Zoe's Spirit." He said.

"It's OK, JP." Zoe sighed sadly as she held out her D-Tector.

The three Tanemon hopped over to her hoping to play, but then they hopped away laughing, leaving the group.

"No, it's really not OK, Zoe. The Spirit of Wind is yours and you were destined to find it, so we're gonna get it back for you." JP bent down beside her.

"Nice sentiment, but we have more important things to do than fight a battle we can't win." Koji said as he leaned against a tree near Takuya.

"What is your problem, Koji? You'd be going crazy if your Spirit was stolen." JP turned on him.

Koji scoffed as he looked over at the heavy set male.

"But hey, I understand if you're afraid. Even the great Koji has no chance against Grumblemon." JP mocked.

"What?" Koji asked angered.

"Who cares if you have your Beast Spirit? You can't even control it." JP said.

"Hey, stop it." Tommy cried as he held his hands out in front of Koji.

"Knock it off, JP." Takuya said holding his hands up in front of JP to get him to back off.

JP then stuck his nose in the air with his arms crossed.

"I guess I'm the only one who wants to help Zoe." He said.

"More like the only one who wants to show off." Dai muttered under her breath.

"Guys, forget it. Let's just go to the Forest Terminal." Zoe said as she walked over, having enough of the arguing.

"Don't you start talking crazy too." JP said.

"Guys, calm down. Obviously Grumblemon's gonna chase after us, so we'll meet up with him again and we'll get Zoe's Spirit back." Dai said walking over as well with Veemon at her side.

"Yeah, but who knows how long that'll take?" JP asked.

"All right, that's it. I've had enough. I think it's time to do something more productive then stand here and argue." Bokomon said as he ran over to the group.

He then cleared his throat as the Tanemon giggled and hopped by them.

"My friends, I believe the time has finally come." He said.

"The time has come for what?" JP asked.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"Time to show you the path of wisdom." Bokomon said.

"Well, there's a change." Zoe said.

"Yeah, no kidding." JP muttered.

"Wisdom is a path which is not easily walked." Bokomon started to lecture as he turned and walked off as the others watched.

"You must think about every choice, consider every option and know where each step will lead." He went on.

Then, he tripped and he fell face first the Tanemon in front of his squealing playfully as they ran off.

"Oh, dear. It seems that wisdom has landed in a mud puddle." Bokomon groaned as he stood up and showed off the mud on his face.

(Later on…)

Walking down the forest path, Bokomon led the way to what appeared to be an area filled with tents.

"So what's your wise solution?" JP asked.

"Fortune telling." Bokomon answered.

"Fortune telling?" the others asked quizzically.

"Shamanmon is the wisest digimon of them all." Bokomon explained.

"If I had said that, you'd had told me I was crazy." Neemon said.

"You are crazy, but that's beside the point." Bokomon said.

The group walked into the crowd of colorful tents as different digimon were all getting told their fortunes or buying talismans for good luck.

All around, Dai and Veemon recognized different types of the digimon such as Gummimon, Salamon, Garbagemon, Chumon, Etemon, DemiDevimon, Starmon, Kiwimon, Gazimon, Pumpkinmon, Terriermon, Bakemon, Ninjamon, Wormmon and so many others.

There was even an Arukenimon and Mummymon much to the duo of Miracles' surprise; it was strange seeing Vaccines and Viruses spending time together without fighting.

"Wow, I never had my fortune told before." Tommy said as he looked around.

"I had my palm red once. It took a week to get the paint off." Neemon said.

"Come on, do you actually think any of these weirdoes can tell the future?" JP asked with his hands on his hips.

A Vadermon then walked over to him, moaning as if he was having some sort of vision.

"Oh, yes, round one. It's all so clear." Vadermon stuck his face close to JP and grabbed at the boy's arm and he looked disturbed and tried to pull away.

"I don't really believe in any of this mumbo jumbo." JP said pulling his arm away.

"There is a girl in your life who thinks you're quite special." Vadermon winked.

"I'm, uh, special?" JP asked bashfully as he blushed.

"Oh, you were meant for each other." Vadermon exclaimed.

"Really?" JP asked.

He then slipped off into a fantasy world as he giggled and hugged himself while everyone stared at him in confusion.

"JP, what are you doing?" Takuya asked.

"We're leaving now." Zoe drawled making JP snap out of his fantasy with a nervous laugh.

"Come on, come on. You can ask me anything, short stuff." A Gekomon said as he tried to drag Bokomon off somewhere.

"OK, how do you polish that tuba?" Neemon asked making Gekomon let go off the white chicken who was relieved.

"Wait a second. Let me guess; you're rather new to this fortune telling stuff aren't cha?" Gekomon asked.

"Just ignore him. What do ya got?" Bokomon crossed his arms.

"I shall conjure up a potion made from wart's juice and earwax which I will place in a hat and then drink while standing on one leg." Gekomon said as he raised one leg into the air.

Unimpressed, Neemon and Bokomon turned and left.

"The result will be inspiring my friends. Don't knock it until you've tried it." Gekomon said as the humans watched him curiously as they walked by him.

"Over here." An ape looking digimon wearing a large colorful African mask waved his hand to catch the Chosen Children's attention.

"Check it out. So what's your deal, masked dude?" Takuya asked.

"Carry-Wood method." He answered.

"Um, OK, what exactly is the Carry-Wood method?" Zoe asked.

"I give you these heavy wooden sticks and give to you to carry them one at a time." The digimon explained.

"And what exactly would that tell you about our future?" Zoe asked.

"That in the future, you will be stronger. The more wood you carry, the stronger you get. Carry wood, get it?" He laughed and then hit himself over the head.

"Stupid." Veemon muttered as the group turned and walked off from the crazy digimon.

Bokomon then led the group up to a building that was overlooking the village, the humans and digimon going up the stairs and then entered the ancient building.

"Why are we here, Bokomon? All these fortune tellers are fake." JP said.

"Like my Grandmamon's teeth." Neemon chimed in.

"Have a little faith, please. I do know what I'm doing. Shamanmon is the real thing. Shamanmon, I call upon your wisdom, your insight and basically we're asking for two cents worth of advice." Bokomon said.

He was speaking to the dark green skinned digimon who had his back to the group, everyone staring at him.

"Who calls upon Shamanmon?" the digimon asked.

"Weary travelers in need of guidance from the universe." Bokomon answered.

"Oh, you'll get guidance all right." Shamanmon laughed as he turned around.

The sight of him made Takuya, Zoe, JP and Tommy gasp while Koji was confused, Bokomon was nervous, Neemon was awed and finally Dai and Veemon blinked at the sight of him.

"Wait a minute, I remember you." Takuya pointed at him.

"You're one of those nasty Goblimon from the wind factory." Zoe said.

"Come on guys, let's get him." Tommy said.

"No, no, no, no! Shamanmon's one of the good guys." Bokomon insisted as he waved his arms around urgently.

"Shamanmon is a medium. This all seeing digimon does a ceremonial dance with his magical club to see into the future." He said.

Shamanmon then started to hop from one foot to the other and waved his hands in the form of a dance.

"You should be very careful. Ahead you face much danger. You will come up against a foe you have faced before, but this foe has a friend and in meeting him you will find a friend is your foe." He prophesized.

Dai quirked an eyebrow as the other humans looked skeptic or confused by this.

"I don't buy it." Takuya stated as Tommy nodded at him.

"Then listen to this!" Shamanmon yelled as he jumped in front of the two brunettes, Tommy clinging to Takuya as the digimon pointed his club at them.

"Beware! The greatest test will be faced by you two. This test has the power to destroy you all if you are not careful." Shamanmon warned and then scoffed as he turned away.

"Hey, come back." Tommy called.

"Yeah, we don't wanna get destroyed." Takuya called.

"Then remember who you are and trust in each other and your friendship. Now as for the team of Miracles." Shamanmon mused as he turned to Dai and Veemon.

"You two think you're bond is as strong as it will ever be, do you?" he asked.

Veemon and Dai looked at each other, unsure of where he was going with this, but nodded.

"Yeah." Dai said.

"We're best friends and partners." Veemon said.

"And we really care for each other." Dai smiled down at her dragon making him smile back at her.

"Wrong!" Shamanmon yelled jabbing his club at them, Veemon jumping up into Dai's arms in fright as she held him.

Takuya wanted to run over to the girl to protect her, but stood where he was so he didn't make a scene or offend Dai in anyway.

Veemon and Dai were staring at Shamanmon curiously as they tried to figure out what he meant because they were sure their bond was as strong as a bond between human and digimon could be without falling in love with each other.

"Your bond will become more powerful than ever. You two will be the only ones of your two generations to have this power. Coming back to this world was not an accident, you were meant to come back and learn." Shamanmon said.

"Learn what? And what is this power thing?" Dai asked.

"You will see soon enough." Shamanmon said as he began dancing again.

The earth shook making everyone gasp while the dancing digimon fell down.

"Right, run for it!" JP cried out.

Everyone ran outside to see the ground break as Golemon came out, roaring at them as Veemon and Dai both groaned in annoyance at having to fight a digimon like him again and also because Grumblemon was standing on Golemon's shoulders.

"Old foe, big friend." Takuya said.

"It's Golemon." Bokomon exclaimed.

"Grumblemon bring big angry surprise for little Spirit Kids." Grumblemon smirked.

"One of these days I'm gonna beat this jerk for good." Koji glared.

"When are you gonna learn? How about working with the rest of us, huh?" Zoe retorted.

"Oh, save me." Neemon whimpered as he held onto Bokomon.

"Just give me a minute." Takuya said.

Golemon then jumped up and slammed his fist into the ground making it erupt as they were blasted back from the force of the attack.

"Right, minute's over." Takuya pulled his D-Tector out as JP and Tommy did the same.

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

"BEETLEMON!"

"KUMAMON!"

"Now for the Beast." Koji said pulling his D-Tector out.

"Dai, me too." Veemon said.

"Right." Dai nodded as she pulled her D-3 out.

"Me no think so." Grumblemon said.

He then pulled out a vial and threw out the contents which were pink sparkles that hit the trio making them gasp as the gravity suddenly held them down in place, the three dropping to their knees as red ruins glowed under them.

"What's going on? I can't move." Koji grunted.

"What is this stuff?" Dai asked.

"Sorry, KendoGarurumon no play today. You no move till Grumblemon say so." The Warrior of Earth sniggered.

"Jerk." Veemon called.

Kumamon then jumped up and used Crystal Freeze on Golemon as the digimon jumped out of the way and Grumblemon took off.

Golemon then punched Kumamon, sending him to the ground.

"Kumamon!" Beetlemon called, then started sparking as he flew over to him and used his Thunder Fist on Golemon's head.

"Uh oh." Beetlemon said as Golemon chuckled making the Warrior of Thunder back off.

Landing next to Kumamon, Beetlemon and the bear were hit by Golemon's Sulfur Plume blasting them back into the pillars and boulders behind them.

"Please not to tell me that best you can do." Grumblemon laughed as he watched the beating.

"My turn." Agunimon said as he jumped in and blasted Golemon with his Pyro Tornado, sending the rock head back.

Golemon recovered quickly and used his Sulfur Plume on Agunimon making Dai gasp as she watched him go flying back.

Bokomon and Neemon were clinging to Zoe's legs as they watched the beating going on.

"You can do it. Just work together." Zoe encouraged them on.

"Enough. You finished. You surrender Spirits now or be destroyed big time." Grumblemon demanded.

"Boy would I like to shut that guy up." Beetlemon growled as he, Agunimon and Kumamon stood up.

"Yeah, me too." Koji growled and then slammed his fist into the ground.

"There's gotta be something I can do. Anybody got any suggestions?" he asked.

"Pray?" Dai suggested.

Koji gave her a look which made her shrug while Veemon was groaning as he struggled to get out of the hold that the spell had on him.

Golamon then slammed his fist into the ground making it erupt and Kumamon jumped back before he fell into the crater.

"Work together. Hit him hard." Agunimon charged.

"Right." Beetlemon agreed as he followed.

"I'll chill him out." Kumamon said as he used Blizzard Blaster to stun Golemon as Beetlemon came in with Lightning Blitz and finally Agunimon ended it with Pyro Tornado.

They watched as Golemon went flying, crashing into the ground as Grumblemon glared in anger.

"NO!" he snarled and then jumped up.

"Don't let him get away." Agunimon cried out.

"Execute: Slider Evolution!"

"GIGASMON!"

"Now myself me fix you." Gigasmon said.

Kumamon used Blizzard Blaster, but it was countered by Quagmire Twister and the force sucked Kumamon inside.

"Tommy!" Agunimon called as he ran to help, only to get hit from the twister.

Kumamon was then falling from the twister, his Cody showing as Gigasmon went after him.

"Tommy!" Zoe and Dai yelled.

"Wake up!" Zoe called.

It was too late as Gigasmon gobbled up the Spirit of Ice as Tommy fell to the ground.

"Eat yummy bear. Me have two now." Gigasmon said.

"Get out of there you guys!" Zoe screamed as Gigasmon jumped up and used his Tectonic Slam on the ground making the ground quake.

Suddenly from the temple, lights shined as a large beast that looked like a half phoenix/lizard creature flew out and punched Gigasmon back.

The Beast then let out a loud roar which made Tommy whimper as he ran over to Zoe.

"What is that thing?" Agunimon asked.

"You mean other than bad news?" Beetlemon quipped.

"Now just hold on, that thing may be on our side." Bokomon said.

"OK, but somehow I don't think so." Agunimon said.

"Whoever he is, he seems very upset. Maybe not." Neemon commented.

The ground under the Beast broke as two large hands grabbed his ankles and started pulling the Beast down.

"You go bye now." Gigasmon said.

Roaring, the Beast flapped his wings and started flying up with Golemon holding onto his ankles.

"He's strong. Must be an Ultimate." Veemon gaped.

"Quick, let's get out of here." Beetlemon yelled.

The yellow spikes on the Beast's arms then turned into lasers that started firing at Golemon making him cry out as he fell down and explode into data, his helmet hitting the ground.

The Beast then stomped on it, destroying it as Gigasmon stared at him in fear.

"I go bye now!" Gigasmon said as he dived to the ground, digging to safety when the Beast tried to attack him.

Underneath Koji, Dai and Veemon, the ruins disappeared and gravity returned to normal as they stood up and then ran over to Tommy, Zoe, Bokomon and Neemon.

"Aw man." Agunimon said.

"He's really strong." Tommy clung to Dai's hand.

"Too strong." Koji said.

"If he comes after us, there's no way we can beat him." Zoe looked at him worried.

"Right, time to go." Bokomon started gesturing them the humans off.

"All right Agunimon, come on." Beetlemon turned.

"Right." Agunimon nodded.

"Help me!" the Beast cried out making Agunimon pause.

"I'm possessed by the Beast Spirit!" he sobbed.

"Shamanmon?" Agunimon asked turning back to the hybrid digimon.

"Please rescue me." he sobbed as he started to shake and fight off the power.

"I was in the temple when the Beast Spirit was revealed. The instant I touched it, I was possessed. Please, help me!" Shamanmon begged.

Agunimon then walked over as the others watched him in confusion.

"Agunimon, what're you doing?" Beetlemon asked.

"Don't worry, Shamanmon, I can help you." Agunimon assured.

The Beast then attacked with flames making Agunimon jump back.

"Agunimon!" Bokomon cried out.

"Takuya!" Dai called.

Flames and lasers started getting blasted around, Agunimon getting hit worse by the attack as the Beast flew over to him and stomped on his side, pushing him down.

Veemon was clinging to Dai's leg to hold her back from running over to the Warrior of Flame when the laser was placed in front of his face.

"What is he waiting for?" Koji asked.

"Strike now! NOW!" Shamanmon yelled as he regained control, then Agunimon kicked him back.

Agunimon then started blasting his flames at the Beast, sending him back.

"Now to free Shamanmon. My D-Tector should release him. Fractal Code: Digitize!"  
Shamanmon was returned to normal, though he was weak from the possession as he fell down.

Staring at the Beast Spirit totem, Agunimon cried out in pain as it possessed him making Dai gasp as tears filled her eyes making her struggle to get out of Veemon's hold, but he was dragged along with her.

"Something's wrong!" Beetlemon gasped.

Everyone else cried out in worry as Dai ran over to her friend as he was then transformed into the Beast of Flame making her pause as Veemon stopped beside her.

"Holy sock!" Neemon gasped.

"For once, I completely agree with you." Bokomon whimpered.

Roarng loudly, the Beast threw his head as flames sparked around his body.

"Oh no, Takuya. No!" Zoe said.

"It seems that the Best Spirit has possessed him." Bokomon said.

Turning to them, the Beast growled low in his throat as he looked down at the duo of Miracles who slowly backed away.

"Takuya, don't you remember us?" Dai asked.

He responded by going to hit her with his claws, but her digivice beeped and glowed, the blue lights cutting him off.

"Veemon digivolve to…EXVEEMON!"

The dragon grabbed Dai and flew back over to the group.

"Run everyone!" Bokomon cried as the Beast started beating up Beetlemon who was the closest to him.

"Takuya, that's JP!" Koji called.

Growling, the Beast flew over to Koji who gritted his teeth and stepped back.

"Fine." He said as he pulled out his D-Tector.

"Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!"

"KENDOGARURUMON!"

The wolf gave a howl before he then charged off at the Beast, Bokomon pulling out his Book and started flipping through the pages to find the crazed Beast.

"You guys, this is crazy. Think about what you're doing." Beetlemon said to the Beasts of Light and lame who were growling at each other.

"Koji, Takuya, stop his!" Beetlemon begged.

Dai was shaking as she stared at the group, an image of MetalGreymon and Garurumon replacing the two Beasts which made her step back in horror.

"It's like history is repeating itself." She whispered.

"Ah, here we are. BurningGreymon, the Beast Spirit of Flame. Of, this won't be good." Bokomon whimpered as he stared up at the hybrid.

To be continued…


	9. Fear and Loathing in Los Arboles

"Fear and Loathing In Los Arboles"

**Please enjoy and review!**

BurningGreymon kicked Beetlemon down into a duo of pillars, then landed in front the hurt Warrior of Thunder as the others watched in worry.

"Takuya, stop!" KendoGarurumon yelled catching the hybrid's attention.

As he went in to help, BurningGreymon whacked the wolf back with a flick of his tail.

"Put me down!" Beetlemon cried out as he was grabbed by BurningGreymon and ran over to KendoGarurumon, jumped up and threw Beetlemon down onto the wolf.

ExVeemon flew over to fight; slamming his fist into BurningGreymon's face, but the Beast wrapped his tail around the dragon's ankle and tossed him back into the two other Warriors.

Then, the Beast of Flame started going on a rampage, destroying what was around him and roaring loudly.

"There has to be a way to stop him." KendoGarurumon said.

"But how?" Beetlemon asked.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, get out of here before it's too late." Bokomon said.

"All right, if it's a fight you want, fight me." KendoGarurumon demanded making BurningGreymon look over to Beetlemon and ExVeemon.

"Don't look at me." Beetlemon said as he took to the air.

"He said it." ExVeemon said as he flew upwards as KendoGarurumon took his place to get ready to attack.

"Is he really going to try and fight him? What if they hurt each other?" Zoe asked in worry.

Dai whined as she held her head, images of the fight against MetalGreymon coming back into her mind, her hands holding her head as she remembered Matt mounting Garurumon as the wolf ran off at the large black dinosaur.

KendoGarurumon used his Lupine Laser on the charging BurningGreymon, but it didn't work as the hybrid flew up and then kicked the wolf on the head, then raised his claws to stab him.

"Not so fast." Beetlemon called as he punched BurningGreymon back, ExVeemon catching the hybrid and then threw him into the rubble.

"Come on before one of us gets hurt." Beetlemon said.

"Don't have to tell me twice." ExVeemon said as the trio flew or ran off into the forest as BurningGreymon stood back up and glared at them.

He then used Pyro Barrage, setting the forest on fire making the trio back away from the falling branches that had flames on them so they didn't get hurt.

"We have to do something before he levels the whole forest." Beetlemon said.

"Or the whole world." ExVeemon commented.

"I'll stop him." KendoGarurumon growled as his blades extended and he used his Howling Star, charging off, but the trees were sliced down from the blades.

"You're supposed to stop him, not help wreck the place." Beetlemon called as he pushed the trunks out of the way.

"If we'll have to fight trees, he'll be deadly." Neemon whimpered.

"Then count your blessings we're not trees. Let's go." Bokomon said as he, Neemon and Zoe started running.

Tommy was staring at the fight in worry and was unsure of what to do to help since he wanted to do something, but without a Spirit he felt useless.

Hearing whimpering, he found that it was coming from Dai who was being plagued by her memories of the day she first realized that Veemon was her friend and that she had to start acting like more of a friend to him.

"Tommy, Dai! This is no time for day dreaming. Come on!" Zoe called as she ran over and grabbed the two, dragging them along with her.

As they started running, they heard the battle going on as BurningGreymon gave off a lord, beastly roar that made Dai whimper in fear for her friend.

"Ah! What a horrible noise. It doesn't even sound human at all." The blonde said.

"That's why they call it a Beast Spirit, my dear." Bokomon said.

"But it's like Takuya isn't even in there. Can't we help him?" Zoe asked.

"Not really. He has to learn to control the Beast Spirit on his own. Sooner or later he will." The chicken advised as he led the group up a hill.

"It's the later part I'm worried about." Neemon said.

While they were walking, the boulder in front of them was smashed apart to reveal the Beast of Flame making them all cry out.

"When's sooner gonna get here?" Neemon cried.

"Cut it out!" Beetlemon yelled as he rammed into BurningGreymon and then ExVeemon flew in, grabbing him by the tail and pulling him back.

"Quick, back to the burning forest! I can't believe I said that." Bokomon groaned.

"This is going well." Beetlemon quipped as he was getting strangled by the Beast.

"I'm coming!" ExVeemon called as he flew in and blasted BurningGreymon with his V Laser, loosening his grip of Beetlemon who kicked out at the Beast and flew away.

KendoGarurumon ran in to attack, but was punched back as BurningGreymon took to the air using his tail to whip Beetlemon and ExVeemon down to the ground.

"Takuya, no!" Tommy cried.

"ExVeemon!" Dai cried out.

To her horror, she saw Tommy forward, the scene changing to TK running at MetalGreymon which made her head throb in pain.

"Tommy!" Zoe called.

BurningGreymon was holding onto KendoGarurumon's tail as the wolf tried to get away, but was then thrown back just as Tommy made it over to the wild Beast.

"Takuya!" he called making BurningGreymon look down at him with narrowed red eyes.

"Please, you gotta stop this. Fight it, Takuya. I know you don't wanna hurt any of us. This isn't really you. You're just out of control and afraid." Tommy tried to get through to him, taking a step forward but BurningGremon stepped back as he gave off a warning screech.

"Takuya, listen to him." KendoGarurumon said as he stepped over.

"Yeah, come on, Taky. It's us." Beetlemon insisted as he got screeched at.

"Don't you get it? We're your friends. We're here to help you." Tommy smiled as he held his arms out.

"Wake up! If you can't remember us, then what about Dai?" ExVeemon asked.

The name seemed to have struck a chord making BurningGreymon's eyes flash blue before the Beast shook his head making the dragon curious.

Looking over to Dai, he saw that she was on her knees with tears streaming down her face and her fingers tangled in her hair as Zoe was at her side trying to comfort her.

"Dai, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Dai!" ExVeemon cried as he flew over.

Hearing the name again, BurningGreymon looked over to where the dragon was heading and saw the girl who looked to be in pain.

At the sight of her tears, Takuya felt himself gaining control as he saw Dai open her chocolate eyes, memories coming back to him.

His parents dragged him to the new neighbors, house to greet them and while his parents were talking to the adults and the teenager, a beautiful mahogany haired girl walked around the corner looking nervous and a bit depressed.

Then he thought back to when he found that her room was right across from his and he spoke to her, seeing the flash of irritation in her eyes while she pouted at him and then closed the window on him.

Shinya also seemed to love the girl, always clinging to her when she was around and then Takuya had finally gotten her to open up to him which made him glow gleefully inside.

Veemon was now trying to comfort Dai, untangling her fingers from her hair before she tore it out.

BurningGreymon's eyes returned to their normal blue as Takuya had full control of his mind, transforming back to normal making Dai look up at him and give a weak, relieved smile.

"Welcome back." She greeted softly.

Takuya gave her a smile in return, but sorrow was in his eyes as he thought back to how he had attacked his friends and his rampage had somehow hurt Dai.

"Are you feeling better now?" Tommy asked.

"Not really." Takuya answered as JP and Koji returned to normal.

"Let's get out of here." Koji said.

(Later on…)

Takuya was kneeling in front of a lake in the forest while the others stood or sat off from him, watching him curiously.

He was thinking hard on what had happened, unsure of how to talk to the others or face Dai after he had become a monster.

Sighing, Dai stood up and walked over to the goggle head, stunning him as he saw her reflection in the water.

She furthered surprised him when she placed her hands on his shoulders and gave a comforting smile.

"You feeling OK?" she asked.

He smiled and placed his right hand over her left hand.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm sorry I hurt you guys. By the way, Tommy, I really should thank you." Takuya said as he stood up, still holding Dai's hand.

"Oh, it was nothing, but you're welcome." Tommy blushed at the praise.

"It wasn't nothing; it was one of the bravest things I've ever seen." Takuya said seriously.

"It really was. I don't think I was that brave when I was your age either. You should be really proud of yourself, Tommy." Dai smiled at him making the boy beam.

"Well, I owed ya one, so now we're even." Tommy said.

"Ah, the trials of friendship. Take note you two for when you get your Beast Spirits." Bokomon advised.

"Um, why don't you go first?" JP suggested to Zoe.

"Oh, no. You, I insist." Zoe joked as she gave a bow.

"Yes, well, of course you still have to get back those Spirits that you lost to Grumblemon." Bokomon reminded as Neemon nodded.

"Thanks for the reminder." Takuya muttered as he held his D-Tector.

"How are we gonna find Grumblemon anyway?" Koji asked.

"Geez, it seems harder to avoid him than to find him. I think we should just keep going. I bet we'll run into him sooner or later." Takuya said.

"Sounds good to me." Zoe shrugged.

"I know you want your Spirit back, but how can running into Grumblemon sound good? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." JP complained.

"You better hope you get your Beast Spirit first pal 'cause I'm coming after you when I get mine." Zoe warned.

"Now I know what Bokomon meant by the trials of friendship." JP muttered.

The group then started walking off down the forest, the trail getting a bit more hazardous from all of the long, twisting roots that stuck out form the trees.

"The Book says that the roots make the forest path treacherous. Oh, that's redicu-Ah!" Bokomon yelped as he tripped over a root from not paying attention since his eyes were focused in the Book.

"Maybe you shouldn't read and walk at the same time." Veemon suggested.

"Hey, check it out. What's up with these roots?" JP asked.

Everyone looked at the strange roots that went downhill, each one looking like a row with either an X or an O in the center of a square and led to a large O and Xs at the bottom.

"Ooh, do those symbols stand for hugs and kisses?" JP teased.

"Yeah, like you'd know." Zoe scoffed.

"Hey!" JP protested.

"It's like a maze." Neemon said.

"Well, not really. All the roots connect." Bokomon observed.

"We'll make it a game. Everyone get your own vine and let's go. Whoo hoo!" Neemon cheered.

"Cool, I'll take this one." Zoe ran to one.

"And this one's mine." Neemon chose one just like everyone else.

"Ready, set, go!" Takuya called.

They all went off, laughing childishly as they enjoyed a moment of peace, going down the vines until they finally made it to the bottom, Takuya and Tommy ending on the only O while JP was on an X, then it was Zoe, Koji and Bokomon were together while Dai was with Neemon and Veemon.

"We win!" Tommy and Takuya gloated.

"Yeah, so what's the big deal?" JP quipped.

Suddenly, the earth under the losers turned into quick sand making them all sink, crying out s they got stuck.

"Stop struggling! You're only going to make things worse." Takuya called to them.

"Easy for you to say." JP sniped.

"Here." Takuya called throwing them a vine.

"About time." JP said as he caught it while everyone grabbed onto it at once.

As Takuya and Tommy tried to pull their friends out, the earth shook and then Grumblemon appeared stunning them all.

"Look who here." He taunted.

"It's Grumblemon, no!" Takuya gasped.

"Grumblemon yes and you just where I want you." Grumblemon laughed.

"Looks like you two won race. You winners' now big losers. It's Spirits taking time." He taunted.

"Actually, I think it's stuck in the mud time." Neemon said.

"You not quiet! You learn hard way it really hammer smashing time, got it?" Grumblemon sneered at the frightened Neemon.

"And now for you!" Grumblemon pointed at Tommy and Takuya.

"Oh, why can't we just be friends?" Takuya whined.

"Quiet now! No one give me much trouble as you. You know you lose, why not play nice?" Grumblemon glared.

"So what? We should just hand over our Spirits? Forget it! That's never gonna happen especially now that I have my Beast Spirit." Takuya warned as he stood protectively in front of Tommy while Grumblemon took a step forward.

"Now why me not afraid of that?" the Warrior taunted.

"Well, you should be 'cause it's very powerful." Takuya was wavering as he tried to sound braver than he felt.

"Only powerful when you can control and I betting that you not learn yet or why you look so afraid?" Grumblemon asked making Takuya gasp at being caught.

"Leave him alone you ugly troll!" Dai yelled at him.

"See, you tell me all I need know." Grumblemon smirked as he pulled out his hammer and swung at them making the boys run.

"Hurry!" Takuya cried as he boosted Tommy up into a tree.

"Grumblemon: Slide Evolution!"

"GIGASMON!"

"Execute: Spirit Evolution!"

"AGUNIMON!"

"Hasn't the forest had enough fire for one day?" Bokomon whined.

"Right." Agunimon said as he went to attack Gigasmon, but was caught by him and then thrown back.

Gigasmon then used Quagmire Twister, hitting Agunimon around.

"Agunimon!" Tommy cried as Gigasmon grabbed him.

"Gigasmon, put him down!" Agunimon yelled as he stood up.

"If you want him, you have come take him." Gigasmon laughed as he started climbing up into the trees.

"But…" Agunimon trailed off as he glanced over helplessly at his friends.

"Don't worry, we're fine now. I mean, we're kind of stuck here." Koji said.

"OK." Agunimon nodded as he jumped up to go after Gigasmon.

The others watched in worry as they saw the shadows of the fight going on, yelling and attacks being called out while blows were landed.

Suddenly, Agunimon yelled as he started falling down from the tree tops.

"This is gonna huuuuurrrrrt!" he yelled and then hit the ground making the others groan in worry.

"I was right." Takuya groaned as he turned back to normal.

"Takuya!" Zoe, Dai, Neemon, Veemon and Bokomon cried out.

"Are you OK?" JP asked.

"Yeah, but Tommy's still in trouble. And I don't know how to save him." Takuya looked discouraged.

"Looks like a Human Spirit just can't compete with a Beast Spirit. You have to turn into BurningGreymon." Koji insisted.

"But I can't. What if I lose control again?" Takuya asked as his eyes roved over to Dai.

"Don't be afraid. Just remember what Tommy said. Remember who your friends are and you'll be fine." Zoe advised.

"Takuya, you can do this. We all believe in you." Dai said.

"What not want help friend?" Gigasmon asked as Tommy was lowered tied in a vine.

"Tommy!" Takuya cried.

"Play time over, now give me Spirit. You hurry, maybe save him." Gigasmon said making Takuya glare.

"No, don't do it Takuya! Don't trade your Spirit for me. It's OK, I'm not afraid!" Tommy yelled.

"No!" Takuya yelled as Tommy was pulled back into Gigasmon's grasp.

"Some friend you be, won't even give up Beast Spirit to save friend." Gigasmon said.

"I'm not afraid of you." Tommy glared at him.

"You should be." Gigasmon then started swinging off on a vine.

"No! Tommy! That's it. If Tommy can show courage in the face of that freak, then so can I." Takuya growled.

"Execute: Beast Spirit Evolution!"

He cried out in pain as flames covered his body, the primal power filling him.

"BURNINGGREYMON!"

Looking over towards Dai, he saw that she was looking him over in worry for himself and then she smiled when she saw he was fine which made him smile back.

"So let's see if can control." Gigasmon smirked.

BurningGreymon ran at the tree that Gigasmon was in and rammed into it making him jump away and then BurningGreymon whacked the tree Gigasmon landed in with his tail, making Gigasmon slip off the branch and grab onto it so he didn't fall.

A branch was then thrown at him by BurningGreymon making him let go of Tommy, BurningGreymon then ran to catch him.

"Not gonna make it." Gigasmon taunted.

Not wanting to give up, BurningGreymon slid on his stomach and caught Tommy in his claws, unharmed.

"Tommy, you OK?" BurninGreymon asked.

"Yeah, check it out. You got control of your Beast Spirit." Tommy smiled.

"Thanks to you, buddy." BurningGreymon said as he stood up and set the boy down.

"I'll help the others, now go get him." Tommy encouraged as he ran over to the group stuck in the mud.

"Right." BurningGreymon nodded as he ran off at Gigasmon.

BurningGreymon was able to throw Gigasmon around with ease, beating him back easily and finally used his tail to whack Gigasmon back into the tree roots as the others cheered him on.

"Slide Evolution: AGUNIMON!"

Agunimon then jumped up into the tress and grabbed a vine, swinging on it to lure the evil Beast away.

"Tag, you're it." Agunimon taunted angering Gigasmon as he broke free from the roots and chased after him in anger.

"Guys, hurry up." Tommy called as he threw the vine back over to the group stuck in the mud.

"Veemon, you go first." Dai said as she caught the vine and handed it over to her dragon.

"Huh? Why him?" JP asked.

"If Veemon is out, then he can digivolve and free the rest of us." Koji caught on.

"Right." Dai nodded.

"Well, hurry up." Zoe said.

"OK. Pull me to freedom, Tommy." Veemon called as he took the vine.

Veemon was then pulled out of the mud as Dai reached into her pocket and pulled out her D-3, then looked over as her dragon shook the mud off like a dog would.

"Go for it, Vee!" she called holding up her D-3 that glowed blue.

"Veemon digivolve to…EXVEEMON!"

The dragon flew over and hovered above the group as Zoe, Koji and JP grabbed onto his hands or tail to get pulled up while Dai helped Neemon and Bokomon crawl onto the dragon before she was pulled up next.

"That was easy. Now let's go help BurningGreymon." ExVeemon said.

"Hurry." Dai said.

Flapping his wings, ExVeemon flew over to Tommy, picking him up and held him in his hand as he flew off in the direction Agunimon had led Gigasmon off in.

They broke out of the dense forest to find BurningGreymon was flying in the air above a gorge and whacked Gigasmon back into a pillar, the evil Beast's Fractal Code showing along with his Beast Spirit and there was Tommy and Zoe's Spirits.

"Here you go, buddy, got a little present for ya!" BurningGreymon called as he grabbed the Spirit of Ice and threw it over to Tommy.

The Spirit went over to the group, the icy winds chilling them while Tommy smiled big as he held out his D-Tector, downloading his Spirit.

"Hey, my Spirit. Yeah, this is better than birthdays and Christmas combined." Tommy cheered as the others laughed.

"And now to get Zoe's Spirit." BurningGreymon said.

Before he could get the Spirit of Wind, Grumblemon's Fractal Code returned to normal as the Warrior of Earth jumped away.

"Me leave while behind." He said as he then started to dig his way to safety and before he was defeated permanently.

"No! He still has my Spirit!" Zoe cried out sadly.

BurningGreymon then sighed as he flew back over to his friends, returning to normal as the others watched him.

(Hours later…)

Staring off into the distance over the gorge with the three moons shining above them, the group of Digidestineds admired the view and peace they had for the time being.

"Isn't that pretty?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Zoe sighed depressed.

"Come on guys, we've got a long road ahead of us." Takuya said as he turned to the path.

To be continued…


End file.
